Clash of Worlds
by Kaiju Moth
Summary: [Teen TitansxWar of the Worlds] The Titans' lives are shattered when an unstoppable enemy lands on earth. Can the young heroes find a way to defeat them before they eradicate all humanity? [RobxStar, BBxRae]
1. Chapter 1: Starry, Starry Night

This is the first fic I've done in a different category, so this is kind of a new thing for me. :) I'm doing this fic in homage of both Teen Titans and The War of the Worlds by the great H.G. Wells, especially in light of the movie being released earlier this summer. Well, read and see what you think! It's basically the War of the Worlds set in the Teen Titans universe. If any of you are also fans of Knights of the Old Republic, I have a bunch of those in my profile.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or War of the Worlds, and the opening passage of this chapter is taken straight from the book, with a few changes. (Robin's very articulate in the intro, isn't he?) :)

* * *

**Clash of Worlds**

**Chapter 1: Starry, Starry Night. **

_Journal of Robin (Richard Grayson), August 2005:_

"_No one would have believed in the first years of the twenty-first century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. _

_With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us."_

* * *

"Yo, Cyborg, quit hogging the freakin' remote!" Beast Boy shouted. He made a grab for the controller, but Cyborg yanked away before he could reach it. 

"Beast Boy, get over it,"

"No way! You've been flipping through channels for, like, an eternity! Why don't you let me pick the channel for once?" He crossed his arms and scowled at Cyborg.

"Because not everyone wants to watch 'Animal Planet' all the time," Cyborg retorted.

"What's wrong with 'Animal Planet'?"

"Will both of you just knock it off?" Robin moaned. He leaned far back into the couch, engrossed in a magazine.

"What? Beast Boy's the one complaining," Cyborg protested. His shift in attention was enough distraction for Beast Boy to quickly snatch the remote out of his hands.

"Yo, man, give it back!" Cyborg yelled.

"You snooze you lose, Cyborg." Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at him.

"Why, you little," Cyborg growled. He made a mad leap at Beast Boy who yelped as he dodged the attack.

"Alright, that's it!" Robin shouted as the two fought. "Give me the remote, Beast Boy."

"But Cyborg started it!" he protested.

"Beast Boy…" Robin threatened. Beast Boy frowned and grudgingly handed it over.

"Way to go," Cyborg muttered.

"Shut up," Beast Boy snapped.

Robin slumped down on the couch and casually flipped channels until he stopped at what looked like an old martial arts movie.

"What is this?" Cyborg asked.

"_Master of the Flying Guillotine_?" Beast Boy remarked, reading the info.

"What? It's a classic." Robin responded. "Made by the great Jimmy Wang Yu."

"Eh, Bruce Lee is better," Beast Boy said as he collapsed in a chair.

"I like Jackie Chan myself," Cyborg added. "Well, at least his old movies. His new ones mostly stink."

"No argument here," Robin and Beast Boy replied in unison. After minutes of watching fists fly on the screen, Beast Boy yawned.

"Robin, is anything else on?"

"If you can find anything better, go ahead," Robin replied.

"Yeah, but there's really nothing else on this time of night," Cyborg muttered.

"Mmm, it's after 11:00. We could watch Cinemax," Beast Boy suggested devilishly.

"Yeah? I doubt Starfire or Raven would appreciate it if they saw it."

"But Starfire's asleep, and Raven's doing who knows what."

"No, Beast Boy!" Robin snapped.

"Alright!" Beast Boy raised his hands defensively. "I was just kidding, anyway." (and he was telling the truth) He looked around and then yawned again. "Actually, I think I'll go and see what Raven's up to."

"Later, Beast Boy," the other two replied, their eyes fixed on the screen. Beast Boy traversed up Titan's tower until he came to Raven's room.

"Raven?" He knocked on her door softly. No answer. "Must be somewhere else," he thought. He transformed into a dog and sniffed the air. The trail led him up to the roof, where he indeed discovered Raven sitting in the night air. Her hood was pulled back, and her gaze was focused on the starry sky overhead. He reverted back to his normal form.

"Hey Raven. Whatcha doing?" Beast Boy asked as friendly as he could.

"Go away," she muttered.

"Stargazing?" he asked, ignoring her completely.

"If you must know, yes," she growled. Beast Boy sat next to her and looked up at the sky himself. He could see why she was out there. There were no clouds out that night, and the lack of any haze allowed the stars to shine brightly, lighting up the sky. A nice, cool breeze added to the comfort of the night air.

"Wow," he whispered.

"I know. Beautiful, isn't it?" Raven responded. He nodded in awe. "The constellations are out in full tonight," she continued.

"Constellations?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven seemed taken aback by his question. She looked at him, an achievement Beast Boy noted. "Surely you know what a constellation is, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course I do!" he replied. "I, um, just wanted to know which ones, that's all."

"Right. Well, I was just saying how they all seemed to shine brightly tonight." She pointed up overhead. "There's Polaris, the north star. That constellation right there is Ursa Major, which you probably know as the Big Dipper."

"Yeah, I know that one." Beast Boy pointed at another one. "Is that Orion? The one with the three stars?"

Raven nodded. "That's the one. And over in that group of stars – that's the direction of Starfire's home world." The two continued to stare at the sky. Beast Boy was most grateful that Raven was at least tolerating his presence for the time.

"Hey, which one is that?" Beast Boy asked, pointing at another bright star.

"That's not a star. That's Saturn," she corrected. "And that red one up there – do you know what that one is?"

"Yeah, I know! That one's Mars." Beast Boy answered.

"Not bad, green guy," she said, barely grinning. "Yes. Mars is actually closer to Earth than it's been in a long time. That's why it's so bright."

"Cool," Beast Boy muttered. "I've read about Mars," he said, trying to impress her. "It's named after a Roman god, I think."

"The god of war," she replied. "And it's a pretty popular planet in mythology, both new and old. You've probably read comics and watched movies about invaders from Mars before."

"Yeah!"

"Mm. Well, it's unlikely any life exists there. If it does, it's probably barely getting by."

"Well, if it does, they're probably jealous of us," he joked. "I guess we're pretty lucky to have a planet like earth to call home."

"Yes, we are," she agreed. "But many scientists think Mars was once like Earth: warm, green, and wet. There's already evidence pointing to that. They've found riverbeds and volcanoes, and even what appear to be dried oceans. They think that at one time, life even existed on it."

"Really? Neat," Beast Boy said, enthralled.

Raven sighed. "But it's all gone now. If any civilization still exists, they'd probably have to live underground to be able to get to the water and protect themselves from the harsh climate. Mars's high temperatures are barely as high our coldest winters, even at its equator. Mars is in its final throws, climate-wise."

"Kind of depressing," Beast Boy said. Raven closed her eyes and nodded.

"Most planets in the universe don't support life, and an even smaller amount house intelligent life. Our own Earth is an exception, not a rule."

"Too bad." After a few more moments of watching the sky, Beast Boy spoke up again. "Hey Raven, is astrology for real? I mean do the stars really predict the future?"

Raven smirked. "I've heard about ancient techniques used to predict the future, yes."

She motioned toward the sky. "In ancient times, the constellations were said to bring particular fortunes or misfortunes on the planet. For instance, the bull helped farmers sow their crops. Aquarius brought the rain, and Virgo helped with the harvest. If Draco the dragon was in the sky, it meant pestilence and famine were ahead. As for the planets…"

She paused. "They also meant different things. Venus was the planet of love. If Mars was in the sky, it meant war was coming."

"Wow. Were they ever right?"

"Hard to say. One thing I've learned is that the stars are unpredictable and reliable. One reading the stars might see something different then another person. One might see something to happen, only to have something completely different take place." She sighed. "But as for me and most, the stars are just wonders of nature to behold; things of beauty to be admired and appreciated."

"Right," he responded. After a short while, he let out an animal-like yawn. "I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go to bed."

"Don't let me stop you," Raven muttered.

"Good night, Raven," Beast Boy waved.

"Good bye," she said, not even looking back at him.

Beast Boy slinked away in disappointment. It seemed that no matter what he did, he couldn't get Raven to warm up to him. There were times when he couldn't help but be angry at himself and at Raven. "Guess opposites really don't attract," he supposed. "Or maybe it's because I'm green." He almost laughed at the thought. Once he was back in his room, he immediately sank into his bed, not even bothering to change his clothes. It didn't take long for sleep to find him.

* * *

Starfire awoke in a dizzy haze, yawning as her eyes adjusted to the morning light. She brushed her red hair away from her green eyes and stretched as she looked at the clock. 

"10:00? Feels like it is eight," Starfire thought to herself. After dressing and brushing her teeth, she went downstairs to the kitchen. Just as she thought, no one else was up yet. She sluggishly poured a glass of what earthlings called "orange juice" and switched on the TV. She flipped to the news channel, where a female anchor was speaking to the camera.

"-what NASA is calling 'unusual activity' on Mars. Scientists have reported seeing strange flashes of light and what appear to be volcanic eruptions on the planet's surface."

Her curiosity getting the best of her, she kept the channel on. The report lasted a mere two minutes, leaving Starfire disappointed, but not surprised. These days, earthlings didn't seem to care much about what happened on other planets. With nothing else to grab her attention, she shut off the TV and switched on the radio.

She took a sip of the orange juice but grimaced when the liquid reached her tongue. The bitter taste reminded her that brushing her teeth and drinking orange juice didn't mix well. Nevertheless, she forced the contents of the glass down her throat and rinsed it out when she was done. Right as she turned around a familiar green shape appeared in the room.

"Hey, Starfire!" Beast Boy greeted.

"Good morning to you, Beast Boy," she replied warmly.

"Since the others are asleep, I'm making some breakfast. Want some tofu bacon?" he asked hopefully.

Starfire shook her head. "No thank you, Beast Boy. Although I would not mind having some of what you call, um, pamcakes?"

"Pancakes," Beast Boy corrected. "And sorry, but I don't think we have any." He opened the door to the refrigerator and practically buried himself in it. "Hmm…maybe we have waffles. I could make some French toast, if you want. Do we have any cinnamon? Oh wait, it's not in the refrigerator. This jelly would be good on toast. Hey, I didn't know we had eggs! What is this stuff back here?…"

Starfire couldn't help giggling at his effort. She always found his eager-to-please personality rather cute. Starfire leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder. "Actually, Beast Boy, I think I'll just have some of your 'cereal.'"

"Huh? Oh…okay." He resumed rummaging through the refrigerator. "Aha! Here it is!" He pulled out a box of white strips of tofu. "Tofu bacon time!" He wasted no time in cooking the strips on the stove.

"Just what do you see in that stuff?" asked another feminine voice.

Beast Boy spun around. "Oh, hey Raven! You're up. I was just making some bacon. Want some?"

"No," she replied coldly.

"Uh, okay." He felt kind of embarrassed.

Within moments, the entire squad of Titans was downstairs, banishing the once-quiet atmosphere. The air was filled with sounds of laughter, yelling, and talking as the Titans prepared for the rest of the day. For them, it was just the same as every other day, complete with the possibility having to fight villains. Little did they know, however, that that day would turn out far from ordinary.

* * *

Afternoon: 

"Ha! That makes five kills in a row!" Cyborg pumped his fists in the air. "Yeehaw!"

"No way! You're cheating, Cyborg!" Beast Boy complained.

"Cheating? Me?" Cyborg asked innocently, fluttering his eyes. "No, I just own you in this game, that's all!"

"Laugh it up, battery boy," Beast Boy growled. "That's the last kill you'll make today, I promise."

"Oh, I don't think so," Cyborg said with an evil grin. Moments later, Cyborg moaned as his character blew up on the screen.

"Hey! You used a rocket launcher! That's not fair!" he shouted.

"I'll tell you what's not fair: nothing!" he stuck his tongue out at Cyborg.

"Friends, might you keep your noise down in there?" Starfire called from the next room.

"Sorry," Cyborg shouted back. He turned back to the game. "Okay, tough guy, let's see how good you are when it's just energy swords and pistols."

"Bring it on, sparky," Beast Boy mocked. Sheer seconds after he said that, their game was interrupted as a loud boom passed through Titan's Tower. The sound snapped the two back into reality. Cyborg noticed a flash of white light filling the windows for a second.

"Holy crap, what was that?" Beast Boy yelped, dropping the controller in shock.

"Was it an earthquake?" Cyborg suggested. Within seconds, the other three Titans arrived in the room, all wearing the same frightened faces.

"Did you guys hear that?" Robin asked without hesitation. Cyborg and Beast Boy nodded.

"Was it an earthquake?" Cyborg asked again.

Raven shook her head. "I doubt it. It soundedlike an explosion."

"And what was that strange light from?" Starfire asked.

"Well, we'd better go check it out," Robin told them. "If it's some villain's work, we can't waste time." The other four nodded in firm agreement.

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Titans, go!" he shouted.

The five dashed out of Titan's Tower and toward something that would change their lives.

* * *

Well, what do you think? Think this scenario can work out? Please read and review, I'm hungry for opinions. Just one warning: I don't know how often I can update this fic, because I'm also working on "Past's Secrets, which is my main fic right now. But I'll try to get it updated as much as I can. Woops...I screwed up on Robin's name. Fixed. : ) 


	2. Chapter 2: The Arrival

And now for chapter 2. Some quick info about this fic: I'm a big fan of the original War of the Worlds book. In this story, though, I'm attempting to remain relatively faithful to the book while making it more "modern".

worthlessdeath: Halo it was. I guess the game's so popular they love it even in the Teen Titans universe. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or War of the Worlds.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Arrival**

The Titans hurried as fast as they could toward Jump City. Along the way, they noticed a thick pillar of smoke rising off in the distance.

"That appears like it is coming from the forest!" Starfire gasped. The other Titans took quick note of it. They arrived at the streets of Jump City, where they decided to get information before proceeding toward the smoke.

Crowds of people were running along the sidewalks. Cars occupied nearly every foot of the streets, and the Titans had a struggle to reach the other side. Robin noticed a woman clutching a bag of groceries hurrying along the sidewalk. She appeared pale and quite shaken.

"Excuse us, ma'am!" Robin called out. She spun in shock toward the Titans.

"What do you want?" she asked them nervously.

"Do you know what just happened here? Why is everyone running?"

The woman stared at him for a second as if he shouldn't even be asking that question, but spoke up and answered his question. "Something…well, I don't know what it was, but it just fell! Something fell from the sky! I think it was a meteor. It was glowing so bright when it came down! It crashed some distance away from here."

"Is that where all these people are going?" Cyborg asked. Once again, the woman stared at him with a look that wondered why he even asked that.

"Yes," she answered. "But I'm not going. I just want to get home. I have children, you know. I can't leave them."

Robin nodded. "It's okay, you can go. Thanks for the info." The woman nodded and hastily sped off. Robin turned to the rest of the Titans.

"We'd better get there before anyone else does," Cyborg said. Without hesitating, Beast Boy transformed into a pterodactyl and carried Cyborg off. Starfire scooped up Robin in her arms, and she, Raven, and Beast Boy flew off toward the column of smoke that was still rising. Along the way, they noticed a line of overturned trees leading to the crash site, most definitely caused by the meteor as it descended.

* * *

The Titans landed in the thick of the trees, a short distance away from the smoke. Once dropping the boys off, Starfire and Raven flew toward the smoke to see what had created the disturbance. Beast Boy paced nervously while Robin and Cyborg sat on a rotting trunk. 

"Oh man," Beast Boy groaned. "This must be the first time a meteor has ever fallen here! Why the heck didn't scientists know about it before it landed?" He turned to the other two as if they knew the answer. They merely shrugged.

"Who knows," Robin said while poking a stick in the ground. "I'm just glad it wasn't bigger. If it was, it definitely would have caused a lot more damage."

"Hey!" Cyborg perked up. "I just realized – it didn't even leave all that big of a crater from the air. It had to have been pretty small." Robin nodded. Just then, Starfire and Raven emerged over the tops of the trees.

"What is it?" Robin called out. After adjusting his eyes, he noticed both of them looked rather odd. Starfire seemed worried, and Raven had a stony glare in her eyes.

"Guys, I think you should come and see this," she said ominously. The three boys looked at each other then apprehensively followed them through the forest.

They trudged through the forest, navigating through brush and obstacles along the way. Finally they stepped into a clearing, and what it revealed to them made all of them gasp.

Before them lay a huge, black object, nearly two stories high. The object most resembled a gigantic, metallic egg. The ground and plants around it lay black and charred. Some small fires had erupted around the object, most likely sparked from the heat it gave off upon landing. This, and the dirt it kicked up, was what accounted for the rising smoke. Thankfully, they were only small. The air around it swirled in a watery haze from the heat rising.

"Geez," Cyborg murmured in awe. "What is it?" He sprayed extinguisher from his metallic hands at the small blazes before they could grow any bigger.

"Definitely not a meteor, that's for sure," Raven answered. The Titans stood around it immobilized, wanting to approach it but afraid to.

"Geez," Cyborg repeated. "How could something that big not make a huge crater?"

"Obviously, it wasn't traveling at a high enough speed," Robin answered.

Beast Boy, his curiosity overwhelming him, was the first to approach it. He moved until he was within mere feet of it. The hot air surrounding the cylinder was enough to water his eyes and cause sweat to gather on his forehead.

"Beast Boy, come away from there! You might become badly burnt!" Starfire called to him, but he didn't listen. Beast Boy grabbed a nearby stick and rapped on the metallic egg. The sound of the thump seemed to echo within the object.

"Guys, it's hollow!" Beast Boy shouted. He sprinted away from the object before the scalding air seared him.

"I had a feeling it'd be," Robin said.

"And it's hollow for a reason," Raven responded. "I sense…a presence inside."

"You mean there are _beings_ inside of it?" Starfire asked worriedly. The seer nodded.

"Just as I thought. It must be some kind of…_pod_. And I don't think it came from this planet," Cyborg remarked.

"Well, I think that's a given," Robin nodded. "I think the bigger question is what's inside it."

"Men from outer space! _Duh_!" Beast Boy shouted, half-joking.

"From outer space? But what planet would these be from?" Starfire queried. "I know of no beings who travel in giant black eggs. They cannot be from my home world."

Beast Boy shrugged. "Who knows. I wonder what they're doing inside there."

"Looks like you'll have company, here, Starfire," Robin joked. She blushed and smiled at the jest. 

"Oh no! Blackfire's returned!" Beast Boy yelled, feigning fright. A small chuckle erupted from the group.

"Well, we'd better stay here and keep people away from it," Robin ordered. "There's no telling what'll happen."

After moments of watching the giant cylinder, the Titans heard voices coming from the forest behind them. The rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs interrupted the silence. The eager onlookers had finally caught up to them.

"There! It landed over there!" a man's voice shouted. After a short while, a crowd of people emerged from the forest. All of them stopped and looked with awe at the gigantic black egg that lay before them. The Titans quickly moved to stop the crowd from coming to close.

"Be careful around the meteor! It's very hot," Robin shouted. He noticed several people stare at him sarcastically.

A middle-aged man spoke to him. "Listen, kid, we're not children here. And we're just as entitled to catch a glimpse of it as you are."

"The stupidity of some people," Robin thought. "Well, if you don't care about being charred, go on and touch it." The man gave him a dirty look.

"Daddy! What is that?" a little boy asked. His black-haired father barely seemed to notice, he was so enthralled by it. "It's…it's a," he began, but that's pretty much all that got out.

"Keep back! Keep back! Keep back!" Starfire shouted to a crowd of little kids who were crawling too close to the cylinder. The crowd giggled and pointed at both the cylinder and Starfire, who seemed taken aback by this.

"Hey, look! It's the alien from the pod!" one of them shouted as he pointed at Starfire.

The green-eyed alien blushed. "No, I am not!" she protested. Robin couldn't help but find this rather funny. Raven merely glared and shook her head.

* * *

Pretty soon, the crowd multiplied into what seemed like hundreds of spectators trying to catch a glimpse of the fallen cylinder. The Titans were degraded into trying to keep people from burning themselves on the giant egg. 

"It's a spaceship! It's a spaceship!" One of the children kept shouting. Cyborg was the first to notice something peculiar about the black cylinder. He crept up to it and raised his hand up to it. The air seemed…cooler. Much cooler. He very slowly pressed his hand against the egg. It was still pretty hot, no doubt, but it wasn't nearly as hot as it had been.

"Hey, guys!" he shouted. "It's cooling down." Intrigued, the rest of the Titans approached and all put their hands on it.

"Ouch! It's still hot!" Beast Boy yelped.

"Yeah, but are you burned? It's not nearly as hot as it was."

"Hmm… The substance must be some kind of rapid-cooling material," Robin hypothesized.

"That is peculiar…" Starfire mused. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted into the cylinder, "Come on out! We will not hurt you! It is safe! Please feel welcome, traveler from another planet!" No answer. The egg sat as still as it ever was. "Earthlings are not that bad!" she continued. "I know some-"

Some of the people in the crowd shot mean glares at Starfire, not amused with her speech. Noticing this, Robin grabbed her arm. "Starfire, maybe you should leave it for now," he said, trying not to laugh. She looked at them then at Robin with innocent puppy-dog eyes.

"Very well," she sighed. More shouting from the forest caught their attention.

"Move out, people! Clear the area! Jump City Police Department!" Soon, a crowd of police officers busted through the crowd of civilians into the clearing. They too, almost gasped when they saw the gigantic egg. Noticing the Teen Titans, they approached them for a word.

"Any idea what just happened here?" a portly officer asked them.

"This thing just landed here some time ago. And it's not from this planet," Robin said pointing at the pod.

"Crap!" said a young, mustached officer. "Is that a meteor? It sure don't look like a meteor."

"It isn't," Raven answered.

"Well, listen – we gotta get these civilians away from here," a tall officer said. "We're setting up a barricade around this thing, and we can't have these people so close. You can go; the police can handle things from here. Okay, people, move back! Let's go! We are securing this site!"

The Titans looked at each other, then shrugged. They decided in the end to stay put, just in case something did happen with the pod. A short while later, a squad of police filled the site. Eager reporters with cameras and microphones swarmed around the site, all eager for a picture of story or interview. Several news helicopters flew overhead, all filming to show the public the amazing egg from outer space. By this time, the cylinder had cooled considerably, but nothing else happened.

A crowd of eager reporters swarmed the Titans, repeatedly pelting them with questions concerning the pod. After what seemed like ages, Raven, who hadn't spoken a word to the reporters, nudged Robin and whispered in his ear.

"Can we leave?" she growled. "All these people are starting to get on my nerves."

Robin shook his head. "Just a little while longer, just in case." Raven simply turned and glared at the buzzing reporters. The officers were having their own problems with reporters. The spectacle had become something of national attention, and the crash site practically turned into a convention. Through the sights and sounds created by human activity and helicopters, no one noticed the small, grinding sound emanating from the black egg.

Beast Boy soon grew bored with everything. Nothing had moved since the pod landed. He casually took another glance at the pod and his eyes widened to dinner plates.

"Guys! GUYS! It's moving!" He pointed frantically at the black egg and ducked behind Raven, who was tempted throw him off. The crowd grew quiet and focused intently on the object. It indeed was moving. The end of the cylinder was twisting, no, _unscrewing_!

As it unscrewed, a loud hissing of air either entering or escaping the cylinder pierced the silence. The end grinded and twisted as it slowly unscrewed itself from the rest of the pod.

"About time," Cyborg huffed. The Titans were more accustomed to aliens, and so were not as enthralled or excited as the rest of the crowd. The end of the cylinder stuck out more and more as it gradually broke free. The only sounds filling the air were the hum of the helicopters and the grinding of the pod/cylinder/egg.

"Greetings from Jump City!" Beast Boy finally shouted with a huge grin.

"Beast Boy, shut up," Cyborg responded. Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at him. For what seemed like ages, the crowd stared intently at the object as it unscrewed ever-so-slowly. Finally, a loud clang pierced the silence as the end of the cylinder fell off. A gasp echoed from the crowd. Now, only the helicopters overhead broke the silence.

Nothing seemed to move from inside. People moved about to try and get a peak at whatever might be inside. The angle of the open spot prevented anyone from getting a good glimpse, however.

"Starfire, Raven," Robin whispered. "See if you can see what's inside." But there was no need, however. As if on cue, movement sounded from within. People pushed and shoved each other as they tried to catch a glimpse at what was moving inside. Without warning, a scream erupted from the crowd. People covered their mouths. Children hid their faces.

Perhaps they were expecting something that resembled a human, like Starfire. They might have even expected creatures that remotely fit their concept of an intelligent being. But what they saw blew that conception away when the occupants finally revealed themselves.

The alien pushed it's way out of the opening and regarded the crowd of observers with its huge eyes. People stared back with a mixture of awe, fear, and curiosity. The Titans, having seen more ugly beings, were not as surprised. Even still, the alien was not like any they had ever seen before.

A gray exoskeleton covered the alien, much like an insect. There were some parts, particularly around the joints, where a soft, reddish flesh was exposed. The alien walked on four, spider-like legs which held it a couple feet off the ground. The most noticeable feature, the head, rested on top of the legs. It's head was fan shaped and large, with two huge, solid black eyes protruding from it. Near the bottom of the head was a small mouth, which when opened exposed a set of small, sharp teeth. From the front of it's body protruded four arms, two large and two small, each with three claw-like fingers and a thumb, making a total of four fingers on each hand. The two large arms were extended out, feeling and waving around the surroundings. The two smaller arms it kept folded next to its body much like a praying mantis.

Some of the children had run away in fright from the alien. Some of the braver children hung around or kept close to their parents. News anchors whispered into their microphones, photographers snapped pictures, and journalists jotted in their notepads. Everyone jockeyed around the giant pod to catch a glimpse of the strange creature. The alien continued to observe the crowd, and it made a series of clicks, hisses, and squeaks which must have been its language.

"Oh man," Cyborg murmured. "What is that?"

"You got me," Beast Boy responded, his eyes still fixed on the alien.

"Me too," Robin said distantly.

Raven and Starfire finally flew up to try to get a look inside the pod. Once at a good angle, the two noticed that two more aliens resided in the pod. These two crawled their way out of the pod and stood next to the third that was already out. They did nothing, but merely stared at the crowd, letting out their clicks, hisses, and squeaks.

"What ugly brutes," Starfire murmured, her green eyes wider than usual. "Great Xorbath, what ugly brutes."

Raven smirked at her. "What – you mean you haven't seen uglier things before?"

Starfire blushed. "Yes, I suppose, but their features took me by surprise. I have never heard or seen creatures such as this before."

Suddenly, Raven felt a strange sensation. She winced slightly and placed her hands on her head. Starfire, noticing this, asked if Raven was alright.

"I'm fine," Raven responded. "I just got a…a vibe. And it's coming from…them." She looked straight at the aliens. Two of them crawled back inside the pod. The third one, the one who had come out first, took one last look at the crowd. Before it returned to the pod, it glanced up at Starfire and Raven, and at this Raven winced again. There was something wrong in the creatures gaze…very wrong. Indeed, she had received a vibe – a bad one.

"Oh no…" she whispered. The last alien crawled back inside the black pod and a metallic hatch closed over the inside of the entrance, cutting them off from the outside. "Oh no," she said again. Beast Boy, Robin, and Cyborg noticed Raven's pain.

"Raven!" Beast Boy called. "What's wrong?" She snapped her face in his direction, and it showed fear.

"Guys, we have to get out of here now," she said.

"What? What is wrong?" Starfire asked, frightened.

"We need to get out of here now! NOW!" Raven shouted. The rest needed no more convincing. When Raven yelled, it was never a good thing.

"Everyone, get out of here!" Robin shouted. Some of the people, already frightened, turned and fled. Some stayed behind, either too confused or curious to move.

"Get out of here! Get out of here!" The Titans shouted at the crowd. Suddenly, the ground around the pod trembled and quaked. SMASH! Something long and metallic erupted from the pod, smashing right through the black shell and planting itself on the ground. To Beast Boy, it resembled a giant tentacle. The metallic tentacle was split into three separate appendages at the end, each ending in a sucker-like hemisphere.

Robin desperately clamored to get people away from the pod. Something was happening, and it wasn't good. SMASH! Another metallic tentacle shot out from the pod and planted itself on the ground. SMASH! A third metallic tentacle shot out and did the same. Just then, Beast Boy realized what the tentacles were.

"They're legs…" he thought to himself as he watched in fear. He supposed they had been coiled up inside the pod the whole time. The snake-like legs lifted the pod off the ground, rising higher and higher until it was a couple hundred feet in the air.

A deafening sound, almost like a foghorn blasted from the pod. At this the black metal making up the pod split and cracked and fell away in chunks. When the last of the chunks fell away, there stood a gigantic, metallic tripod.

The Titans and the remaining bystanders all looked with fear at the huge machine. The silvery metal making it up glinted in the sunlight; it's tentacle-like legs rooted firmly in the ground. The head of the tripod resembled a scorpion without the legs. Near the front were what seemed to be dark windows, behind which the aliens no doubt piloted the machine.

As it stood looking down at the dispersing crowd, six metal tentacles extended from the back of the head, waving menacingly in the air like an octopus's. On the front and underside of the head shone a huge, bright spotlight. From the rear of the head, rising up like a scorpion's tail, was a strange metallic appendage that swiveled on a base. Two short metallic appendages jutted from the front. The Titans didn't need to guess what they were.

"Those look like laser cannon's to me guys," Cyborg shouted nervously.

"Everyone, duck for cover!" Robin yelled. The Titans all fled to the trees and hid behind whatever they could. It was just in time, too.

Without warning, bright blue beams shot from the two front cannons. With blinding speed the beams struck the ground, incinerating the place they touched. With horror the Titans realized the machine wasn't aiming for the ground – it was aiming for the _people_. The two front lasers shot again, and this time they hit home. The cannons struck two fleeing people, and in what seemed like an instant, they were incinerated.

"Get under the trees! Get out of sight!" Robin shouted at the confused masses.

Frightened bystanders fled, pushing through each other, trampling those who were too slow, and fleeing with disregard to anything else around them. The gigantic tripod fired repeatedly at the fleeing masses, incinerating them as they ran. The tail-like cannon from the rear of the head aimed up at the helicopters overhead and fired a fiery red beam at them. The helicopters one by one were struck and fell to the earth in flaming scraps.

A woman carrying her crying child struggled madly to get away from tripod. As she tried to make cover under the trees, her foot snagged an exposed root and she fell to the ground, dropping her frightened child. She turned in horror as the tripod turned in her direction. The cannons fired at her and would surely have struck her and her child had Starfire and Raven not whisked them away in time.

"Oh god!" the woman screamed in Raven's arms. "Oh god! My baby! Where is my--"

"It is alright!" Starfire shouted, trying to calm her. "I have her!" The small child wailed in the Titan's arms.

"Oh, bless you, girl! Bless both of you! Thank you so much!" the woman cried. The two female Titans carried the woman and her child away until they were a good distance away from the rampaging tripod. Raven slowly dropped woman, and Starfire placed the crying child in its mother's arms.

"Please, get out of here. Go somewhere safe," Starfire told her.

The woman rapidly nodded. "I will. I'm getting far away from that thing! Thank you both!" With that she turned and hastily sped off toward the city.

"Quick. Let's get back to the rest," Raven said to Starfire. The alien girl nodded firmly and the two flew back in the direction of the tripod.

Back at the scene of the chaos, the other three Titans had had enough. "Let's get them!" Cyborg screamed. As if by a stroke of bad luck, the tripod finally noticed the Titans. It aimed its cannons at the three young heroes and fired. Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy tried like mad to dodge the beams. The cannons fired and fired, each time missing the heroes by a hair. As the Titans had hoped, the tripod now focused on them and allowed for the rest of the people to escape.

Cyborg jumped in the air and rolled behind a tree as a beam narrowly missed his head. "Eat this!" he shouted and fired at the head of the tripod. Each shot struck the head and exploded. The head wavered for a moment from the impact. The shots had caused some damage the hull, but not much, and definitely not enough to cripple it. The tripod turned toward Cyborg and fired at his hiding spot. He dashed away just in time to avoid being incinerated. He heard a crumbling sound behind him. He turned and yelled in surprise and fear as a tree fell on him.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy transformed into a cheetah and dashed madly at the tripod, zigzagging as he ran. The tripod fired again and again, but he dodged each shot with relative ease. He ran until he was underneath the towering behemoth, and once there he switched to tyrannosaurus form. He arched up and made an attempt to bit off one of the tripod's legs. Before he could, two of its tentacles whipped down and struck him on the head with surprising force.

Staggering from the pain and surprise, Beast Boy was caught off guard as the tentacles whipped down again, this time succeeding in knocking him over. Now the rear laser arched down and took aim at Beast Boy's prostrate form. Noticing this, he immediately transformed into a fly and flew away. Just when he thought he was safe, he reverted to his normal form, but without warning a tentacle struck him from behind.

Robin was torn between what to do. He dodged shot after shot, trying to think of some way to fight the machine. He dashed and ran close to the tripod's legs. Seething with fury, he took out a razor boomerang and aimed at one of the legs. Before he could throw it, a tentacle came down and hit him with enough force to send him flying through the air and into a tree. His limp body collapsed on the ground. Miraculously, the machine ignored him and focused on the other two instead of finishing him off.

Starfire and Raven flew at the tripod as fast as they could. Once close enough, Starfire fired a green bolt at the machine. The shot struck one of the tentacles and managed to blow it off. Starfire gave a small "Yes!" of satisfaction, but it was short-lived. The tripod's rear laser fired a red bolt at the two hovering titans. Without thinking, Raven threw up a black force-field around the two.

The shield deflected the laser, but the impact caught Raven off guard and she fell spiraling toward the ground.

"Raven!" Starfire screamed and flew down, catching her friend before she hit the ground. She descended and placed Raven gently on the ground. "Raven! Raven are you okay?" she asked earnestly.

The mage winced and sat up while sucking in a sharp breath. "I just got the wind knocked out of me, but I'm okay. Just don't carry me ever again while I'm conscious." Starfire couldn't help but laugh slightly, even with the chaotic situation.

"Quick! Let us go help the others," the alien said. They flew up to the treetops, but this time they remained low enough to avoid being seen. The tripod was still there, but it had stopped firing. The machine lifted a gigantic leg and sent it crashing back down. Another leg lifted off, and with that the tripod slowly started moving away from the crash site.

"What has happened to the other three?" Starfire asked with concern.

"I don't know, but we'd better get over there and see. We should move below the treetops so we're not seen," the half-demon mage suggested.

The red-haired alien agreed, and the two sped toward the crash site as the tripod lumbered away. "Robin?" Starfire called once they had reached the site. "Robin?" she called out again desperately.

"Beast Boy?" Raven called out. "Cyborg?"

Starfire scanned the area and caught a glimpse of Robin lying limp at the base of a tree. "Robin!" she shouted and flew toward his body. She carefully scooped him up in her arms. She noticed his chest rising up and down. He was alive. "Robin, are you okay? Please answer me!"

Robin's eyes opened slowly and winced. "Hey, Starfire," he said, smiling sadly. "I'm okay."

The alien's eyes watered. "Robin! You are unharmed!" She hugged him tightly, but was careful not to break any bones.

Meanwhile, Raven spotted Beast Boy crawling along the ground. "Beast Boy!" She flew down and landed next to him. "Beast Boy, what happened?" she asked the green boy.

"Did anybody get the number of that tripod?" he asked dully.

"Very funny. What happened? Are you hurt?" she asked again.

"Nah, I'm okay. Nothing broken." He stood up slowly and put a hand on his head. "Those tentacles sure pack a punch, though." He looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed Robin. "Where's Cyborg?" he asked.

"Guys!" Cyborg's voice shouted from the trees. "Guys, a little help here!" he yelled. The other four hastily made their way in the direction the voice came from.

"Where are you?" Robin yelled.

"Here!" he responded. "I'm under this tree! A little help, PLEASE?"

"Oh no!" Starfire gasped. Cyborg's form came into view, and he was trapped under a fallen tree. The alien flew over and tried lifting the tree off his body. With a little help from a tyrannosaurus-Beast Boy, she cleared the tree from over his body.

Cyborg leapt up and arched his back. "Oh, man! Those things hurt!"

"Are you okay?" Robin asked. The half-machine teenager nodded. "Yeah, just a new backache. I don't know what these things are, but they've just signed their death own death warrant." His eyes blazed with an inner fire.

"They certainly didn't come in peace, that's for sure," Beast Boy said angrily.

The sound of the lumbering tripod echoed in the distance. Once again, it sounded that loud "foghorn" noise it had made earlier. "It's heading for the city," Raven told the others.

"We had better stop it before it hurts more innocent people!" Starfire said.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Robin said with a hint of anger and resolution in his voice. "Titans, GO!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The five heroes dashed toward the rampaging machine. As she flew, a realization came to Raven's head.

"Disgust," she thought to herself. "That's what it felt when it was looking at us. Disgust. And hatred."

* * *

Whew! Well, how is it so far? As for the Martians in this fic, they are different from how the book portrays them. In the book, they're a bunch of octopus-like creatures with brown skin, sixteen tentacles, huge eyes, and beak-like mouths. Basically, they were heads with hands (as H.G. Wells put it). In this fic, I changed their appearance around to something I imagined myself, so apologies to any hardcore fans of the book that might be out there. :) 

I depicted the tripod mostly as it was in the book with just a couple differences and adjustments (the two front laser cannons and the spotlight being a couple). In the book, the Martians did come down in meteor-like cylinders. Also in the book, the Martians constructed the tripods on the spot, but I changed it for the sake of pacing and just cause I thought it would be cool having the tripod "explode" out of the cylinder. I was also a little inspired the recent movie as well. Anyway, hope you like it so far. Adios.


	3. Chapter 3: Rampage

Well, people seem to like it so far, which is good. :)

Mermaid Ninja: Martial arts movies _are_ awesome! The movie mentioned in Chapter 1 is real and so is the maker. Sorry if you were disappointed that it wasn't more like the movie. While the movie was awesome and, I think, better than the first, I'm blending elements from both the book and the movie. Hope you like this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or War of the Worlds

* * *

**Chapter 3: Rampage. **

Starfire and Raven flew overhead while the other three ran down below. Before them the tripod lumbered toward the city, smashing trees in its path. The rear laser on its scorpion head swiveled around like an eye, and the five remaining tentacles waved menacingly in the air. The very steps of the tripod echoed and shook the ground it tread. At last the tripod cleared the forest and was well on its way toward the city. Sirens were already sounding in the distance.

"Guys," Robin shouted. "Once we get out of these trees, throw everything you have at that machine. I don't want it moving any closer to the city."

The tripod was powerful, but slow. The Teen Titans had little trouble catching up to the lumbering machine. As they thought, it was too intent on the city before it to notice them as they rushed up behind it.

"Okay, you ugly, bug-eyed freaks," Cyborg yelled. "Welcome to Earth!" He fired his sonic cannon several times at the scorpion head of the tripod. The shots streaked at the tripod at lightning speed. Cyborg was dumbstruck when the shots exploded in midair before they even reached the tripod. "What the heck?" He fired at it again. Once again, the shots stopped in midair just before they reached the tripod. "Well, that didn't happen before," Cyborg said with shock.

Starfire wasted no time. Her fists glowed green and she fired a green bolt at the huge machine. Just as with Cyborg's attempt, it merely stopped before it hit the tripod. The alien noticed the air around the tripod turn a shade of light blue for a split second. "Oh no," she murmured.

Raven focused intently on the tripod. Funneling her powers, she focused on the lumbering machine. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she screamed. A wave of black energy streaked toward the tripod. But it was no use. Like the others, her attempt failed.

"Guys, nothing's getting through! Why isn't it working?" Beast Boy shouted.

"Crap!" Robin shouted angrily. "It's using a force field!"

Just then the rear laser of the tripod turned around and fired its red beam at the Titans. The five heroes dispersed and dodged the laser cannon as it fired at them. The tripod lost interest in the Titans and proceeded steadily toward the city. It was right next to it now. All three laser cannons fired at the metropolis. Buildings split apart as if they were paper. Glass windows shattered into a million pieces. Roads cracked and split as they met the intense heat of the rays. The screaming of countless innocent civilians echoed all the way to where the Titans were.

"Oh no! We have to stop it!" Starfire cried as she fired again at the tripod. The green beams detonated helplessly against the force field surrounding the tripod. In a desperate hope that it only blocked energy attacks, Robin threw another razor boomerang at one of the tripod's legs. As he feared, the boomerang bounced off the force field and fell to the ground harmlessly.

Beast Boy wasn't sure what to do. The little changeling doubted any form he took could get through the shield. Raven and Starfire furiously flew around the tripod like flies, firing black and green at the tripod. The attempt was vein, for the tripod continued to proceed unharmed. It was now within the city.

Its huge head looked down at the masses of people that struggled to get away from it. It paused for a moment as if the occupants were taking time to laugh at the terrified humans. Then, the tripod took aim at the fleeing masses and continued its destruction.

It tread along one of the streets, firing at anything that moved. Cars and trucks exploded in balls of flame. People were burned to dust as they ran. People, vehicles, and buildings alike fell before the tripod's merciless onslaught. Some of the police had opened fire on the machine, but nothing penetrated the force field. It was like bows and arrows against lightning.

Cyborg tried everything he could think of. He fired at the tripod with everything he could. He even picked up cars and threw them at the lumbering machine, but nothing got through the shield. Starfire and Raven flew around the tripod's head, firing at it in attempts to draw its attention away from the crowds, but it merely swung its tentacles at them as a human might swat at mosquitoes.

"Robin, it's not working!" Cyborg yelled.

Robin clenched his fists so hard they hurt. There had to be some way through that force field. Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg went at the tripod as furiously as ever, their attempts growing more desperate each time. Now, as if it had had enough, the tripod fired at the Titans once more. It's blue and crimson beams pierced the air around Starfire and Raven.

In a desperate bid, Raven attempted to manipulate the machine itself. She struggled to concentrate on it, an attempt that was in itself a chore. She focused her black energy around the tripod. She attempt to grab at it in several places, perhaps hoping to tip it over, but it was too much. Even if she could get through, it was too large and powerful, and the constant distractions were almost too much to deal with. Raven even surprised herself sometimes with how she could remain calm in such circumstances. There were instances where she was unsure if an explosion had been caused by her or the tripod.

Just then, something very peculiar happened. A small portal opened up on top of the tripod, and something large and cylindrical ejected from the head. The thing hurtled straight into the air, and then seemed to hover for a moment. The silvery cylinder glowed blue and started spinning very rapidly. Then, a blinding burst of blue light erupted from the device, and it fell to the ground, dead.

Robin was dumfounded for a moment what it had been. No one had been harmed, for what he could tell. Out of nowhere, he heard Cyborg yelling. "Guys! GUYS! Help me! I can't move!" Robin looked in the direction his voice came from and saw Cyborg lying on the ground, frozen. Robin dashed over to him as he ducked under one of the tripod's raised legs. Starfire and Raven had given the tripod enough distraction to keep it preoccupied for the moment.

"Cyborg! What happened?" Robin asked fearfully as he stooped over his teammate.

"EMP, I think," Cyborg muttered, still frozen.

"A what?" Robin asked him.

"An EMP! An electro-magnetic pulse!" Cyborg responded, frustrated. "I think that's what that blue flash was! It's deactivated my mechanical parts! I can't move!"

Just then, Robin noticed what was happening. People were abandoning their cars. Vehicles had stopped suddenly in the streets for no apparent reason. "Crap! Okay, we gotta get you out of here! Beast Boy!"

The changeling rushed over to Robin and Cyborg, with an expression of fear and utter confusion plastered on his face. "What happened?"

"No time to explain. We have to get Cyborg out of here, fast."

"But where?"

"ANYWHERE! Anywhere away from that thing!" Robin pointed at the huge tripod that was still preoccupied with Raven and Starfire.

An idea occurred to Beast Boy. "Robin! Let's get underground! The tripod won't be able to get us there!"

Robin nodded. "Alright. But we need the other two."

Meanwhile, Starfire and Raven were having no luck in breaking through the force field. The only thing they had managed to do was distract the tripod away from the fleeing citizens. "Starfire!" the mage called out. The Tamaran princess looked over from the other side of the tripod's head. "We can't do this forever!" Raven paused as she deflected a blast from the tripod. "We can't fight it like this! We have to regroup!"

"But Raven!" Starfire protested. Her eyes drifted down below, where most people had cleared the streets. "We have to protect these people!"

Raven cursed under her breath. "I know! But we can't save them if we don't find a way to defeat this thing! We need a plan! We have to regroup!" Suddenly, she heard Robin's voice out of the fray.

"Hey guys!" their leader called. "Down here!" Robin had one hand cupped over his mouth and the other was pointing at a street that winding behind a building. "Quick!"

Raven flew away from the tripod and motioned for Starfire to follow her. The alien hesitated for a moment then flew to join her friend as another beam streaked past her head. They flew past Robin and around the corner. There, they beheld a gorilla Beast Boy dragging Cyborg toward a sewer manhole.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Raven asked.

"We'll explain once we're underground. Starfire, get that manhole open!" She flew past him and removed the heavy metal lid. She descended into the hole and grabbed Cyborg as Beast Boy lowered him down. Grabbing the huge Titan, she laid him gently on the walkway next to the sewer line. Beast Boy, Robin, and Raven dropped down into the dark, dank sewers.

"So, anyone care to explain why Cyborg's as frozen as a board? And what was that thing that made all those cars stop?" Raven asked.

"An EMP. An electro-magnetic pulse." Cyborg explained while he lay there. "It disables all electrical devices within range. Unfortunately, it got me, too."

"But this is terrible," Starfire cried. "Will you be able to move, again?"

"Well, I could wait until it wears off, or I could switch power cells. Since we don't have much time, here, I think we'd better choose the latter."

"Do you keep an extra power cell on you?" Robin asked hopefully.

"I've learned to keep a few extras with me, just in case. They're shielded, so they'll be okay."

After a while of Cyborg guiding Robin in replacing his power cell, the half-machine Titan stood up and stretched.

"Man, that feels better," he said, grinning.

"Guys!" Beast Boy shouted. "What are we going to do about that thing? How the heck are we supposed to fight it if nothing can even get through to it?"

Robin was nervously pacing the walkway as the sewer waters rushed past the five. "I don't know guys. That shield seems to be able to deflect anything we throw at it. None of our powers seem to be of any use. Maybe if we found some way to disable their shields, we could destroy it."

"The more time we spend here, the more destruction it causes up there!" Starfire shouted without warning.

"I know, Starfire!" Robin shouted back unexpectedly. The Tamaran princess was caught off guard by his anger. "You think I don't know that? But what are we going to do if we can't even fight that thing?"

"Guys!" Beast Boy shouted. "Maybe we can lure it away from the city! We could get it to chase us and give the people a chance to escape."

"It's a long shot, but it's really the only option I think we have. At least until we can figure out a weakness," Raven replied dryly.

All the other Titans nodded grimly, but hopefully. With little time to act, the Titans emerged from the sewers within seconds. By this time, the tripod had proceeded down the long street, shooting at practically everything in its path.

The five of them neared the lumbering machine and started shouting at the tops of their lungs (all except Raven). Cyborg was the first to act by firing several times at the tripod. Starfire added to it with a green blast of her own, and Raven used her powers to pick up a car and hurl it at the tripod. All of their attempts were stopped by its shield, but as they hoped the tripod took notice of them.

It slowly turned around and focused its bright, eye-like spotlight on them. Its tail-like rear laser swiveled around and fired a crimson beam at Starfire. The other two cannons fired their bright blue bolts at the Titans below. Beast Boy transformed into a Tyrannosaurus and rammed the tripod, knocking it off balance for a second. Before the tripod could hit him with its ray, Beast Boy transformed into a falcon and flew safely out of the way.

Once the tripod regained its footing, it resumed attacking the five Titans swarming around it. No doubt, the pilots of the huge machine were growing frustrated with them. As the Titans distracted it, they allowed for the people to get away from the machine.

"Keep it up, guys!" Robin said as he rolled to dodge another blast from the tripod. "It's working!"

"Robin, how long are we going to do this?" Cyborg shouted from the other side of the tripod.

"As long as we can!" he shouted back.

Just then, the Titans were distracted as the afternoon sky seemed to brighten. From what seemed like far away, they heard a rumbling. Raven, fearing what had happened, was the first to look up. As she had feared, a huge object glowing bright white was falling from the sky, falling toward a place a short distance from jump city. It was another cylinder.

All five Titans stared in horror as the glowing cylinder crashed in the distance behind a hill. Another blast aimed at Raven, which she dodged just in time, snapped them back into reality.

"Oh, great!" Beast Boy moaned. "How are we going to fight two of them?"

Robin was struggling to figure the situation out as he dodged blast after blast and the tripod's swing tentacles. He felt like he was going insane. They had been fighting the tripod for what seemed like forever and were no closer to finding a way to defeating it. One tripod alone had caused all this destruction and killed probably hundreds of people. And now, another had come.

Suddenly, the tripod stopped firing at the Teen Titans. It straightened itself out and seemed to stand still.

"What is it doing?" Starfire asked with fear and curiosity.

Two portals opened on the underside of the tripod. A cylindrical object attacked to the inside lowered from each portal. Just then, Robin was reminded of a missile launcher. His suspicion was confirmed when the two launchers swiveled and fired two, bulging missiles toward the ground. The three Titans on the ground dodged the missiles, but Cyborg noticed that they hadn't even come close to hitting them. It didn't even seem like they had meant to hit them.

When the missiles struck, the resulting explosion was almost miniscule. But then, something which looked like black smoke started pouring from the spot they struck. Beast Boy thought it was just smoke from a fire, but he could see no flame, and the smoke kept pouring out from the missiles as thickly as ever. Then, the tripod stood there as still as ever, almost as if it was mocking them.

A horrible realization came to Robin's mind. "Guys! Don't breathe that in!"

"What is it?" Starfire asked from above.

"They're gassing us!" Robin shouted from below.

Beast Boy was unfortunate enough to inhale some of the fumes. Just then, his eyes watered and he started coughing uncontrollably. His lungs seemed to tighten and he had trouble breathing.

"Beast Boy!" Cyborg shouted. The bionic Titan held his breath and rushed over to the suffocating changeling. Scooping the small Titan, he whisked him away to an alley a good distance away from the tripod.

"Guys, we have to get away from here!" Raven shouted. Now, it was either flee the tripod or die from suffocation. She and the other two followed Cyborg to the narrow alley.

There, Cyborg was bending over Beast Boy who still looked like something was wrong.

"Beast Boy! Are you okay, man?"

"Give him room. Let him breath!" Raven said as she stooped down next to Cyborg. The changeling's coughing started to slow, and soon he was just breathing heavily.

"Oh man," he said weakly at last. "That stuff is harsh."

"Beast Boy, are you okay? Can you walk?" Robin asked him.

"I'm fine now," Beast Boy stammered as he slowly stood up. "Thanks, Cyborg. If you hadn't gotten me out of there, I might have…"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Cyborg said, smiling down at him.

"Guys, we can't waste any time. We have to move away from here before that gas reaches us." Raven reminded them.

"But what are we going to do?" Starfire asked desperately.

"There's only one other thing I can think of," Cyborg said quietly. "We obviously can't fight that tripod, let alone two of them. At least for now. We have to go over and help those people escape. We should also go over to the nearby cities and warn them about what's happened if it's not too late. Because I can tell you, nobody's going to be getting out of here fast with every vehicle being disabled. And it's not going to be long before the military is here dropping bombs and firing guns all over the place. It'll be even more dangerous then."

"But we can't just leave here," Robin protested. "If we leave here, who's going to stop those tripods from leveling this place?"

"Robin, Cyborg is right," Raven said grimly. "We can't fight them now. And who knows – more could be arriving any minute. The sooner we can get ourselves and the people out of here safely, the better. And we have to try and warn others about this if it's not too late. I'm afraid that's the only thing we can do."

Robin clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes. The prospect of having to abandon jump city to those monstrosities was horrible. But even he knew the alternative was worse.

"Alright," he finally said flatly. "Let's hurry out of here before that gas reaches us."

* * *

"What's the nearest city?" Robin asked Cyborg as the five Titans ran along a street. Cyborg was busy looking his GPS (global positioning system) on his wrist. 

"Right here," the cybernetic Titan said, pointing to a dot on the little map. "We can take this rode out of here. There's a small suburb that we could stop at on the way there. We should get others to do the same."

"Good," Robin said firmly.

Raven and Starfire flew overhead along with a falcon-Beast Boy. The Titans came to clearing of the city away from the taller buildings. Behind them, they could still here the sounds of the rampaging tripod. And they knew it was only a matter of time before the second one came out.

Before them were masses of frightened people all running away from the same thing. Some of them had fled underground in the subways or the sewers, hoping to avoid detection by the tripod.

"Guys, I just heard some police officers over there. They've already issued an emergency evacuation of this city," Robin said. "And that means there's going to be a lot of people trying to get out of here." The Titans could see hordes of police officers trying to get people to leave the city in an orderly manner. It wasn't doing that much good, for people were clamoring as desperately as ever to escape the aliens' onslaught.

Without cars to drive, everyone had been forced to go on foot. This might have been a blessing in disguise, for an attempt to leave by cars might have left the routes clogged and therefore a virtual death sentence.

"Everyone, this way!" Robin and Cyborg were shouting at the crowds. They waved them on to a road that lead out of Jump City. People ran, pushing and shoving each other, weaving through cars as they went. Soon, Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire assisted with getting the frightened citizens to safety. Behind the buildings, they could still see glimpses of the tripod as it lumbered slowly through the streets.

Robin, noticing two Police officers ran over to them. He called out to them, trying to get their attention.

"What do you want?" an officer shouted at him, already frustrated enough as it was.

"That tripod back there is using gas!" Robin shouted back. "Make sure they all leave here! They can't hide here, or they'll suffocate!"

The officer's eyes widened for a moment, then he nodded. With that, Robin turned and ran back to the rest of the Titans. A thousand thoughts raced through Robin's head. He was angry, frightened, and confused all at the same time. The part he hated most was having to _flee_. He couldn't stand it. Every ounce of his being wanted to go back and fight the invaders and finish them off, but that desire was stopped dead by his duty to ensure that the citizens could get out of the city safely. Even still, he knew that once they got out of the city, they would regroup and find a way to beat the invaders. There had to have been a way.

Cyborg's only thought was trying to get everyone away. He felt a nagging urge to go back and fight the machine, but it would have been useless. His only hope was that they could find a way to defeat the machines the aliens were using. Until then, they would have to retreat. It was a word he hated the taste of, but was forced to chew on at the present moment. He tried to keep himself intact, trying to keep his anger and frustration down.

Beast Boy, needless to say, was simply appalled and horrified. He had seen similar cruelty before with Trigon. But these weren't demons. They were obviously as mortal as him, yet they seemed to lack souls altogether. Their utter disregard for life, their lack of compassion, and their sheer brutality took him completely off guard. The audacity, the horror of it practically brought him to tears. Seeing people vaporized in front of him and entire buildings torn to shreds was something that he was not prepared for. Nevertheless, he gathered himself and focused every ounce of his energy to getting the people to safety. He couldn't bring the dead back, but he would try his best to ensure that more didn't end up that way.

Raven, meanwhile, was unsure of what the situation meant. It was especially trying on her, being one whose emotions affected everything around her. Clearly, whoever the invaders were, they were attempting to destroy everything in their path. Raven didn't want to say this, but she feared these tripods were not the only two. A haunting suspicion came to her that this was only a small portion of a large invasion. She could only suspect that the cylinders were falling in other cities as well, and that Jump City had unfortunately been the first. If her fears were correct, then what this planet seemed to be headed for was an all-out war between races.

"A war of the worlds," she thought to herself.

A strange feeling gripped Starfire as she watched the people fleeing below her. A sudden feeling of despair seemed to fill her insides. For all that she could remember, she couldn't remember having to flee like this. She couldn't remember having to leave the very city she called home. It left a hole inside her that she couldn't help noticing.

And rarely had she seen a species that was as cruel and heartless as these invaders. Even the worst villains she had fought on this planet Earth, except for Trigon, were not as heartless as these aliens. Even Slade had shown shreds of humanity. She struggled to remember some race she might have heard of, some race that she knew of that could be these strange invaders. She knew of none.

After agonizing moments of herding people out of the city, Robin finally called for the Titans to get out of the city. Starfire could see the tripod still moving in the distance, and she could only watch as she heard the second tripod activating in the distance. Its loud foghorn blast echoed through the air.

"Starfire, we have to go," Raven said softly as she flew over to her. The Tamaran only glanced at Raven then back into the distance. Just behind and beyond the buildings she caught a glimpse of Titan's Tower, the place that had been her home for so long.

"Please, Starfire," Raven whispered.

With that, Starfire took one last look at the Tower, then turned around and headed toward uncertainty.

* * *

I admit, I had trouble writing this chapter, mostly because I had trouble figuring out how the scenario would unfold in this scene. And the final scene where you get a peek into the Titans' individual thoughts added a nice affect, I think. :) I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but I think it worked out okay. And of course, expect more drama and revelations later. Hope you liked this chapter, and I hope it's working out so far. So long. 


	4. Chapter 4: Travel

The chaos continues! I was nervous at first when I started writing this story. I wasn't sure if it would work out or if it would be well-received, but I think it's working out just fine!

windydays: Thanks :D It's an honor having this put in a C2 community! By the way, if you're looking for good parodies, you should look at _Yet Another KOTOR Parody_ by HelenaL. It's really funny, and I think any Star Wars or Knights of the Old Republic fans will get a kick out of it. Just a suggestion. Anyway, on with the show.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

* * *

**Chapter 4: Travel**

"Of all the days to invade, they had to pick the hottest, most humid day of the summer," Beast Boy moaned.

"Yeah? Well, you're not going to help by complaining about it," Cyborg muttered. "And with everything that's happened, I can't believe you're talking about the weather."

"Excuse me for noticing that we're walking in an oven!" Beast Boy snapped back.

"Both of you, quiet! We have enough on our hands without you two bickering," Robin reprimanded. Even still, he couldn't help but agree with Beast Boy. Ever since the cylinder had hit, the Titans had a lot on their minds and hadn't even noticed the weather. Now that they had been away from the chaos, they finally noticed how miserable a day it was. Periodically as he walked Robin would have to wipe sweat off his forehead. As if the day wasn't bad enough.

The five Titans, along with a swarm of refugees, were trudging alongside the road. The only thing breaking the silence was the sound of the police officers who were getting the crowds to move along. They were headed for a small town east of Jump City, a place where hopefully they could stop and rest on their retreat. The tripod's semblance of invulnerability had forced them out of Jump City for the time. The five could only guess what chaos was still ensuing in their beloved home. While they were still fighting the first tripod, they had seen a second cylinder coming down. A little while after they left the city, they saw a third one coming down as they were walking. Like the others, it appeared to be heading for Jump city.

The worst part of it was that they could only watch it come down and do nothing. It was a horrible feeling for all of them. Never before could they remember feeling this helpless. Even adding to that was the undeniable guilt they all felt. They could not stop the invaders. For them, it was as if they had failed. At least, they had failed round one. All five of them held on to the hope that they would find a way to fight the invaders, and eventually beat them.

Starfire and Raven had retired from flying and walked next to their three male companions. While Raven was buried deep in her own thoughts, trying to sort through the chaos, Starfire couldn't help noticing the sadness all around her. It hung in the air like a thick cloud. Everywhere, she saw grief. People who had been driven from their homes walked heavily, as if each were carrying an immense load on his or her shoulders. Parents held their children; some of them crying, others wearing faces of confusion or pure fright. Some carried bags or cases of unknown items. Some may have been practical, others purely sentimental. The Titans had brought nothing with them, only what they had with them when they left Titans tower, which amounted to little more than clothes. She was reminded of the time she had gone forward into the future and found a world of darkness. It seemed that world was all around her now.

And despite all this, Starfire could not believe she knew nothing about these invaders. Their bulging black eyes, their sickly gray exoskeletons; and their odd language of hisses, clicks, and squeaks; she could think of no race that matched these heartless invaders. She could not imagine what part of the galaxy they had been from. And yet…something felt eerily familiar about them. It wasn't right! Starfire couldn't help but feel somewhat alien (more so than usual) in the situation. This wasn't her home world. It wasn't _her_ planet the aliens were devastating. Yet, she felt the utmost sense of sympathy and compassion toward the earthlings. And the tragedy of it caused her sadness all the same.

"How long have we been walking?" Beast Boy finally asked, breaking the silences.

Cyborg looked at his wrist. "Only a couple hours. I don't know, guys. I'm not sure if we'll be able to make it to that town by sunset."

"Oh, great," Robin grunted.

"YOU!" an angry force shouted from behind. All five Titans and a few citizens spun around to see what had happened. To their surprise, a man who seemed to be in his middle ages was rushing at them. "YOU!" he shouted again.

"Um, guys?" Beast Boy asked nervously. The angry man rushed at them and stopped inches in front of Robin.

"You let this happen!" he spat. "Why didn't you stop them? Why didn't you fight them? It's your fault! It's your fault we have to run like this!"

From Raven's perspective, the man seemed to be treading a line between grief, rage, and insanity. She was surprised to see that Robin had remained calm in this. Starfire and Beast Boy seemed a little frightened, and Cyborg's face showed plain anger.

"Well?" the man asked angrily.

Robin merely glared back at him. "We tried. There was no way we could beat it. Not yet."

"Liar!" the man screamed. "You didn't try! You didn't try at all! You let them do this!" He broke down in front of Robin and started tearing up. His words, however, pierced all the Titans like a knife. They had all felt a similar feeling of guilt, and this only multiplied that feeling even further.

"We're sorry," Robin said to him. The man only started crying and walked past Robin. Robin merely looked back and shook his head. Cyborg started for him, but Robin stopped him. "Let him go," the masked Titan told him.

With that, the five young heroes continued their trek. A few minutes later, they heard a loud rumbling pierce the air. They looked up and saw a group of fighter jets streaking toward Jump City.

"They obviously don't know about the force-field," Cyborg said gloomily.

Starfire sighed. "Maybe they will be able to do something," she said hopefully. The others said nothing.

Beast Boy casually kicked a pebble across the road. A small rumbling emanated from his stomach, and he placed a hand on it. He realized just now that he had had nothing to eat since breakfast that morning. He could sure go for food right now. From the looks of things, however, he had a long wait.

Finally getting tired of the heat, Beast Boy transformed into a lizard and crawled alongside the group. At least as a cold-blooded animal, the heat would be more bearable. Seeing this, Robin shook his head, although he couldn't help envy the green changeling a little.

Raven had been silent almost the whole trip. Her hood was pulled over her head despite the heat. If she was uncomfortable, she clearly didn't show it. She was buried deep in her own thoughts, trying to make sense of the chaos while sorting through her own emotions at the same time. For the mage, keeping her emotions in check was essential. Little by little, she was realizing that her previous suspicions about the invaders had been correct. There had to have been more coming. She could only hope that more would not fall where they were headed; at least not until after they had reached it.

* * *

The five Titans and the crowd of refugees walked for what seemed like ages. Little by little, the sun set and the shadows grew longer. They only had a couple more hours until dark. Nobody had said a word to each other throughout the entire trip. Silence hung over them like a cloud. Finally, out of the blue, Cyborg spoke. 

"Alright! It's not much further now!" He pointed to the GPS on his wrist. "Just a few more miles. Looks like we'll make it before dark after all."

"Thank Tamaran! I am exhausted," Starfire sighed.

"Alright, guys," Robin addressed them. "Once we're there, we'll stop and rest a bit. If they haven't evacuated already, we'll get the rest of them out of there."

"Sounds like a plan to me. I'm starving," Beast Boy moaned.

"Aren't we all," Cyborg added. "I sure hope you brought money with you."

Beast Boy paused. "Um…"

"If the town's evacuated, I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Robin said dryly.

Overhead, they saw another group of fighter jets heading west toward Jump City. The Titans could only watch as they streaked overhead toward defeat. They were surprised they hadn't seen any military convoys yet. Perhaps they had gone toward Jump City by a different rode, or just hadn't shown up yet.

The question was answered prematurely when the dull hum of vehicles killed the silence. The Titans looked and saw what appeared to be military humvees driving down the road. As they got closer, they also spotted convoy trucks loaded with soldiers. Behind them, tanks and assault vehicles rumbled across the pavement. Many of the citizens cheered upon seeing this, others simply remained expressionless.

The Titans were relieved, for the first time that day. Perhaps they could help get the civilians away from Jump City and to safety. They could only hope. Robin waved his arms as the heavy convoy trucks neared them. To his relief, they slowed and eventually came to a stop once they reached the crowd.

At the front of the line was an armored humvee carrying a burly-looking soldier in the back. He promptly opened the door and stepped out to meet Robin.

"You people came from Jump City?" he asked Robin immediately as he scanned the crowd.

Robin nodded. "Yes, we have. I'm Robin, and we're the Teen Titans. These people have all evacuated Jump City. We're trying to get them to safety."

The soldier nodded and looked back at Robin. "I'm Sergeant Brunskey. We've just been told to deploy to Jump City. Apparently, there's some wacky stuff going on there. We were just told all this weird crap about meteors and aliens and giant machines! Any chance you could fill us in a little bit on what exactly went on back there?" He looked at Robin inquisitively, hoping he could provide an answer.

Robin paused for a moment then explained as best he could. "They came down in these giant pods or cylinders. The first one crashed in the woods near Jump City earlier today. After it cooled down, they came out of their pod. We didn't do anything at the time because we had no way of knowing if they were hostile or not."

The Sergeant took this in with surprising lack of emotion. He just stared at Robin and motioned for him to continue.

"They came out and just looked at us for a minute. One of my friends – Raven," he nodded his head toward the half-demon mage, "warned us to get out of there at that moment. It was lucky she did, or more people might have lost their lives."

"Well, what happened?" the Sergeant asked impatiently.

"Something erupted out of it after that. It's one of their war machines. It walks on three legs. It's a tripod. After it came out, it started shooting at everyone around it!" He shook his head.

"And you couldn't stop it? I thought you guys were supposed to be superheroes?" the Sergeant huffed. Beast Boy and Cyborg scowled at him.

"We tried to fight it, okay?" Cyborg cut in. "But those things are really powerful."

"How so? What kind of weapons does it use?"

"They fight by using some kind of laser or heat ray. They have three – two in the front, one in the rear that can aim in different directions. They also have these tentacles that they can strike and pick up things with and poison gas as well."

"Geez!" the Sergeant remarked.

"And that's not the worst part. We couldn't stop it because they're using some kind of a force-field. Everything we've tried can't get through to it."

The Sergeant looked back at his men then at Robin. "Well, thanks a lot for the info. We'd better get a move on, here. Okay, men! Let's-"

"Wait!" Robin stopped him. "What about these people here? Aren't you going to do anything about them?" Robin glared at him and motioned toward the mass of civilians behind him.

"Oh yeah…" he paused. "Where are you headed, anyway?"

"We're heading for the town north of here. We were hoping to be able to get these people to safety."

"Well, I have news for you. That town has already been evacuated. The incident at Jump City has already become big news. The mayor evacuated it as soon as he found out about what had been happening."

"Then what might you suggest we do?" Starfire asked him anxiously.

The Sergeant sighed. "Well, you can stop there if you need to rest of get supplies. With the entire town evacuated and aliens running around, I doubt they'd care if you took a few things. If I were you, I'd keep going east."

"But what about the rest of them?" Beast Boy asked angrily. "How are these people going to get out of here? Aren't you guys going to at least give them some help?"

"Hey! Listen here, kid, I'm not the general. I'm just obeying orders. We were told to go to Jump City, we weren't told to escort you people out of here. We're already delayed enough as it is by talking to you!"

"But you cannot just leave them!" Starfire protested.

"I know that! But we weren't exactly prepared to evacuate an entire city!" He paused and shook his head. "Look, we don't have the means to evacuate everybody here. The best I can do is radio in and ask them for assistance here. I don't think we have enough vehicles do evacuate everybody, but maybe they can at least give you some assistance to lead you guys to safety. I can't promise anything, though!"

"Well, please try it. These people need help," Robin said earnestly.

The Sergeant only nodded. "Okay, people! Let's move out!" He climbed back into the hummer, and within seconds the entire convoy was moving again. When the last vehicle passed by, Robin and the rest of the Titans looked gloomily at each other.

"Sorry," Robin said to the rest.

"Don't be. It's not like there was much else we could have done," Raven assured him.

With little else to do, the group decided to keep walking east away from Jump City. They could only fathom as to what kind of chaos was ensuing back there.

* * *

At last, the borders of a residential neighborhood came into view. They had reached the town at last. And there was still no sign of military assistance for the refugees. Along the way, a couple more convoys had passed, but all were headed for Jump City. Right now, the only official help was the police officers who were helping to escort the civilians along the way. 

"There it is, guys," Robin said, pointing. "We should stop here for a bit and rest before we move on."

"Thank god! I'm so hungry," Beast Boy moaned.

"Well, we should pick up some supplies here before we leave. No telling how long we might be wondering around after this," Cyborg suggested.

"Good idea. We should check some of the local stores. I doubt they cleared their merchandise before leaving," Robin added.

"I just need to rest. I have grown exhausted for some reason," Starfire said.

The town was eerily quiet. The usual sounds of daily activity – cars, planes, and people – were gone. On top of that, everything was so still. No cars were running on the street; no people were walking to and fro on their daily affairs. The five young heroes examined it as they moved along. As far as they could tell, nobody had been left behind. It was a ghost town. Now, the only people in it were the refugees from Jump City and the five Teen Titans.

"Where are we going to sleep?" Starfire asked. "On the ground? We cannot simply break into someone's home."

"I know," Robin replied. "We may have to sleep outside, even if nobody's home."

"Sometimes being a good guy can be so uncomfortable," Beast Boy sighed.

Raven scanned her surroundings. The sun was now setting, and very soon it would be dark. From what it seemed, this was only a small town. It didn't appear big at all, and it can't have been big judging how fast they had been able to get people out of it. There were few vehicles around, and she guess the EMP blast hadn't reached this town.

"According to this, the nearest road leading out of town is that way." Cyborg pointed as he looked at his GPS. "So we should keep that in mind in case we have to get out of here in a hurry."

"Good. We should stop for a minute. Beast Boy, you and Cyborg should go look for supplies. Raven, Starfire, and I will go scout around."

"Scout around?" Beast Boy looked at him sarcastically. "With Starfire and Raven?" Cyborg stifled a laugh. Raven merely shook her head.

"What?" Robin asked innocently, not noticing Starfire blush. "We're going to look for a decent place to rest here and keep an eye out for any stragglers."

"Okay, just checking," Beast Boy said, rolling his eyes. He and Cyborg went off.

* * *

The two of them came to what looked like a little shopping center. Lined up were several stores, including a supermarket, a hardware store, and an electronics store. 

"This looks like a good place." Cyborg said. "Let's raid!"

"Wait for me!" Beast Boy called.

The two of them entered the wide, dim halls of the supermarket. The managers hadn't even bothered to lock up, which saved them the trouble of having to break a window. The heroes didn't like the idea of stealing, but present circumstances forced the option on them. The two of them both picked up shopping carts and went up and down the isles, putting various foods and supplies in them as they went and chatting along the way.

"I'm telling you, those two are hilarious," Beast Boy said as he picked up a bag of dried fruit.

"What? You mean Robin and Starfire?" Cyborg asked as he picked up a case of bottled water.

"Yeah! Everywhere they go, they gotta be together. They're always flirting with each other so bad and yet still act like they're just friends!" He laughed.

"I get a kick out of it myself," Cyborg smiled. "But they probably don't want the rest of us to know."

"Come on, it's not as if it's a big secret! You don't have to be a mind-reader to know they both have a huge crush on each other."

Cybor paused, and then grinned. "You mean like you have a huge crush on Raven?"

The changeling's eyes widened, and then he blushed. He seemed to choke before squeaking out, "Oh, please. She's a friend. Even if I did have a 'huge crush' on Raven, she hates me. I can't get within ten feet of her without her slamming me into a wall or something." His ears dropped.

Though he was in denial, Cyborg could tell Beast Boy's voice contained real sadness. For once, he actually felt sorry for him.

"I think Raven likes you," Cyborg said.

"Really! Um, I mean, you think so?" the changeling asked hopefully.

The cybernetic Titan nodded. "Yup. Just call it a hunch of mine."

Beast Boy sighed. "I don't know, Cyborg. She thinks I'm the unfunniest thing since the black plague. No matter what I do, she still doesn't want to warm up to me. Maybe I'm just ruining it by trying. Maybe she won't ever like me."

Cyborg put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't say that, man. If there's one thing I've learned about Raven, it's that she tends to keep everyone at arm's length, and she loves to hide things. If she's feeling happy, sad, afraid, whatever, she doesn't like to show it. I think the same thing's going on with you."

"Really? I don't know…"

"Look, Raven's afraid of showing emotions. And if you didn't notice, if she's afraid of something, she tends to distance herself from it. Maybe the same thing is true with her feelings about you. Just give her time, Beast Boy. Who knows? She might come around."

Beast Boy perked up a little. "Maybe."

* * *

Meanwhile, Robin, Starfire, and Raven were scouting out a small section of the neighborhood. Beside them was what looked like a small café or restaurant. The lifeless Neon sign read "Steve's Place." Robin cautiously stepped up to the entrance, peering through the windows. With the other two following close behind, he opened the door and stepped inside. It was a quaint little place, and looked much like a typical diner. 

The floor was coated with black and white tiles. The wall facing the street was lined with red, cushioned booths sitting beside windows. On the other side was a counter/bar lined with sitting stools. A cash register sat near one end. Upon closer examination, Robin found that it had been emptied. He couldn't tell if someone working here had taken all the money, or if someone had walked in and taken it. At seeing it, Robin shook his head and wondered how someone could care that much about money, or that it would do them any good in a situation like this.

"I think we should stop here for the night. It's not much, but hey," Robin said to the two girls. It was already getting dark outside, and it wouldn't be long before it was pitch black. Outside, he could see some of the fleeing civilians from Jump City wondering the streets. Some refugees had decided to move on, but others had decided to stop at the town.

Starfire sighed and slumped down into one of the seats. "This is terrible," she said at last. "I can only imagine what sort of calamity must be taking place back at our home. I cannot stand having to run away like this!"

Robin sat down next to her. "Don't worry, Starfire. Don't lose hope. We'll beat them. We'll find a way."

"Thank you, friend Robin," she said, smiling at him. "It is just that this is so much to take in all at once. I am sure it must be worse for you – this being your home planet."

"It's hard on all of us. You live here, too. We're all in this together."

Meanwhile, Raven stood by pretending not to notice the scene. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard what sounded like a truck horn. Behind that sound she could here the vibrations of a heavy engine. She and the other two dashed out of the diner to see what it was. To their surprise, a large public bus was rumbling down the street. And who should be driving it but Cyborg himself.

Seeing them, he waved from behind the wheel and brought the heavy vehicle to a stop next to them. The door opened and Cyborg called from inside.

"Hey, guys! Look what I found!"

"Cyborg, what the heck are you doing with that?" Robin asked as he stared in shock.

The small green form of Beast Boy emerged from the bus and leapt onto the pavement.

"Cyborg and I found this! Like it?"

"Any reason why you hijacked a bus?" Raven asked him.

Beast Boy blushed. "Not hijack, exactly. But we did it for a good reason!"

"We have a vehicle to get out of here, now!" Cyborg shouted from the inside. "And we can take people along in it! I don't know about you, but it beats walking!"

Robin actually grinned in satisfaction. "Good work, guys. Thanks. Now, did you happen to get some supplies?"

Cyborg nodded, got out of the driver's seat, and got out of the bus. "Yeah, we got some food, water, a couple first-aid kits, and some other stuff. We got extra food just in case someone else might need it. Oh, and we got this…" he leapt back into the bus and emerged seconds later holding a small radio. "I got this radio for us. I figure if the stations are still up, we'll be able to listen in and maybe get some news on our current, um, situation."

"About the invaders, right?" Raven asked.

"Right."

Robin looked around and noticed the darkness that had set in around them. "Well, it's dark. We should get some sleep and continue in the morning."

"Maybe one of us should keep watch?" Raven suggested.

"I'll do it," Cyborg volunteered.

"Are you sure, Cyborg?" Robin asked him.

He nodded. "I'm sure. You guys need sleep more than I do. And I should make sure nobody steals our ride."

"Okay, then. We'll cycle throughout the night. I'll go after you, Cyborg," Robin said.

"No, Robin!" Starfire cut in. "Please, you are tired. Let me do it."

"I'm okay, Starfire. Don't worry about it."

"No, I insist," she said, pleading him. "Let me do it." She gave him her usual begging, puppy-dog stare. After a moment of thinking it over, Robin grudgingly agreed.

"Okay, that settles it, then. I'll keep watch for half the night, Starfire will take over. You people better catch some winks, now," Cyborg told them. The five of them stepped back inside the abandoned diner, and within moments, all except Cyborg drifted into uneasy sleep.

* * *

Starfire watched as a tripod erupted out of the ground. Its scorpion head swiveled around, and its eye-like spotlight shone on her. Out of nowhere, her four friends appeared and rushed the tripod. Leading the pack was Beast Boy, who had turned into a tiger. The tripod saw him and effortlessly picked him up with a metal tentacle. It swung back and hurled him far off into the distance, and he disappeared from view. 

"Beast Boy!" Starfire shouted.

Raven launched a black wave at the machine, and it bounced harmlessly off its force-field. The tripod responded by firing its blue and fiery-red beams at Raven. All three hit her, and she was vaporized into dust.

"Raven! NO!" Starfire screamed. Robin and Cyborg were left, and charged at the tripod just the same. "Please, stop!" Starfire pleaded them. But they didn't listen. Cyborg fired several times at the gigantic tripod, each one exploding on the force-field and doing no damage. The tripod saw him, picked up one of its massive legs, and brought it crashing down on top of Cyborg, squashing him like an insect.

"NO!" Starfire screamed. Robin was the only one left. He pulled out a fighting staff and rushed at the machine. He didn't even get a chance to get close. The tripod reached down with a tentacle and picked him up effortlessly. As Starfire watched in horror, the windows of the tripod transformed into huge eyes which stared at Robin hungrily.

Then, in the most bizarre twist yet, the entire front of the tripod split and opened, turning into a massive jaw outlined with teeth. It picked up the struggling Robin and lifted him above its jaw. "Let him go! Please, DON'T!" Starfire screamed. "ROBIN!" The tripod's tentacle let go of Robin, and he fell into its jaws. The jaws closed and swallowed Robin whole.

"NOOOO!"

* * *

Starfire awoke with a gasp, with sweat gathering on her temples. She sat up and looked around and beheld the familiar, dark interior of the abandoned diner. She breathed the biggest sigh of relief she had in a long time. It had all been a dream. No, a nightmare. 

"Bad dreams?" she heard a familiar voice ask.

She turned her head and saw Cyborg sitting down next to the bar.

"Yes, friend Cyborg" she said weakly. She looked back quickly to make sure Robin was still there. When she saw his familiar form sleeping in one of the booths, she breathed another sigh of relief. She looked back at Cyborg and noticed he was listening to the radio he had picked up earlier. The voice of what sounded like a middle-aged man came from the radio.

"I've been listening to this since you guys went to sleep. Thought I'd try and catch some news about what's going on."

"And have you learned anything?" she asked hopefully.

Cyborg nodded grimly. "A lot. Apparently, Jump City was not alone. More and more cylinders have been arriving since the first one fell today. It's happening all across the country. They're mostly falling in populated areas and cities, wherever there's lots of people. And what's worse, they seem to be coming down in countries across the world. They've already been spotted in all the continents. Well, except Antarctica."

Starfire felt dizzy. She slumped down and put a hand over her head. It really was an invasion. It was worse than they had previously thought.

"They're using similar tactics everywhere they land," Cyborg continued. "Most of the time the aliens themselves don't even come out, like the ones in our city did. They usually just land, wait a little bit, then come out in their machines. After that, it's fairly consistent. They open fire at anything that moves, usually sending out an EMP very early on to disable vehicles. Then they just go on a rampage. A couple times they've used that poison gas they used on us, but most of the time they stick to their lasers and force-fields."

Starfire wanted to cry. The situation seemed to be getting worse every time she heard or thought about it. She couldn't help thinking about all the innocent life forms that were dying at the hands of these monsters. They were worse than any villain they had ever faced, even Trigon in some ways. These weren't demons, they were advanced life-forms. They should know better. They shouldn't be such barbarians. After moments of fighting to hold back tears, she finally squeaked out a question, "And have we learned where they are from?"

Cyborg paused uneasily. "Yes."

"Where?" she asked anxiously.

"This may surprise you, but they're right from this solar system. Right next door, even."

Starfire looked at him, confused.

"Scientists tracked the objects coming from a nearby planet, the one closest to us at the time. Starfire, they're from Mars."

"Mars?" she squeaked. Then, she finally realized why the invaders seemed eerily familiar. It now came back to her. Her thoughts were interrupted when the night sky seemed to light up outside. A bright, white light shined through the windows before fading. A split second after, a loud boom echoed in the distance. Cyborg and Starfire looked worriedly at each other.

"Uh oh," he said.

* * *

I know, I know! I'm sorry for the cliffhanger! But take comfort in knowing that the next chapter is already underway. As to when I'll get it posted, I don't know. I'm currently working on two fics, and with school starting soon, updating frequently will be difficult. But I promise to update as often as I can! Hope you liked this chapter. 


	5. Chapter 5: Aftershock

Just to reassure you: this fic is NOT dead in the water; I just haven't had much time to write. I wasn't able to work on this for a while simply because of lack of free time. School sucks, that much I've learned. But anyway, thanks for the reviews, everyone! Keep 'em coming.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Aftershock**

Starfire and Cyborg didn't even have to wake the others; the distant boom was enough.

"Whoa! What was that?"

"Was it them?" asked Robin immediately, fearing the worst.

"I'd bet my power core it was them," Cyborg said.

"Oh, great," Beast Boy moaned.

The five of them poured out of the abandoned diner and onto the black streets. The arrival of the cylinder had brought out the refugees. Some were fleeing; others were looking to see where it might have landed.

Cyborg pointed out in a direction north of the town. "I think it might have landed off in that direction!"

"Oh no! Whatever should we do?" Starfire asked desperately.

"Maybe we can destroy it! Get them before they have a chance to get us!" Robin suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea, but we'd have to hurry," Beast Boy said to them.

"But what about the people? What should we do about them?" Starfire asked.

As if on cue, they heard cheers echoing from the streets accompanied by the rumbling of heavy vehicles. The Titans rushed in the direction of the sound and were overjoyed to see another military convoy passing through and stopping in the town. The five heroes rushed over to see what they were hear for and praying they were the assistance they asked for.

A line of hummers, trucks, tanks, and jeeps all made up the convoy. At the very front, a black man in battle dress uniform stepped off a jeep. Seeing the Titans, he called out to them.

"Are you from Jump City?" he asked them.

"We are! We fled from there earlier today!" Robin shouted back.

"Well, I'm Lieutenant Myers. We were told to come here to find refugees from Jump City. We're here to get you guys to safety."

"Yes! Oh, thank you very much, friend!" Starfire flew over and hugged the soldier, who seemed rather shocked at the unexpected affection. Some of the other soldiers, Cyborg, and Beast Boy all laughed, and Robin simply buried his face in his hands.

"Um, thanks, miss," he said to her after she released him.

"What took you guys so long, anyway?" Beast Boy asked him.

The soldier rolled his eyes, looking annoyed. "We had to come a long way, okay? And we weren't issued the order until recently. Seems like most troops in the immediate area were sent to Jump City to fight those things."

"Well, you're just in time, cause one just landed about 30 seconds ago!" Cyborg yelled from across the street.

"We know. We just saw that thing come down as we entered the town," the soldier told them.

"Guys, I don't know how long it will take for the tripod to activate, but I'd rather not find out," Raven said grimly.

A voice rang out over an amplifier. "Everyone get into the trucks! "Repeat! This is a call to all citizens in the area! You are being evacuated! Do not stay here! Please board the convoy in calm and organized manner!"

The lieutenant turned to the Titans. "You had better get out of here, too. That thing may come out at any minute."

After a while of helping to evacuate the refugees, a realization hit Robin. "Wait guys!" he shouted out of nowhere. "That thing just came down, but who says we have to run? We should destroy it now before they have a chance to come out!"

"But Robin, we cannot even be sure it will work!" Starfire protested.

"I agree with Starfire," Raven interjected. "These beings are intelligent. I doubt they would build pods that could be destroyed easily. And besides, if they can withstand space travel and colliding with the earth, who says they can't withstand our attacks?"

"But we have to try!" Robin said. "I'm not going to let another one of those things get away with destroying more innocent lives! Not if we can prevent it!"

"Robin, I'm telling you, it won't work!" Cyborg cut in. "They've already tried that! I heard it on the radio. The military tried attacking one after it came down, and they had no luck, either."

"Yeah? But who says we can't do it? We have to try while we have the chance!" Robin yelled.

"Robin, please! We cannot take that chance! Not with all these people in danger!" Starfire pleaded.

"Guys, we don't have much time!" Robin seethed. "It's either now or never!"

"Robin, listen to _me_! It won't work!" Cyborg shouted.

Raven could feel the tension mounting already. "Well, while you bicker amongst yourselves, our enemies are right at our doorstep!" she hissed.

Beast Boy was about to say something when Cyborg suddenly dashed off. "Cy!" Beast Boy called out, but he was already almost out of sight. Already, crowds of frightened refugees were piling into the convoy trucks in a desperate attempt to get away from the Martians who could appear at any second. People who had seen or heard the cylinder arrive had already come piling onto the streets even before the convoy arrived.

He took a fleeting glance at the sky overhead. He could not believe after all that had happened that only twenty four hours ago he and Raven were watching that same sky. But it didn't hold the kind of beauty and wonder it did the last time he looked at it. Now, it seemed ominous…almost threatening. And there, like a red eye in the sky, was Mars.

A nearby vehicle horn shook Beast Boy out of his daydream. The bus which Cyborg had lifted earlier was now speeding toward them, headlights blaring, and came to a screeching halt near the convoy. The half-machine Titan honked the horn again and opened the door.

"Everybody, get in the bus! Get in!" he called out. Scared citizens who had had trouble boarding the military trucks turned and packed into the bus.

"Cyborg!" Robin called out.

"I'm going to help get them out of here! You guys go ahead!"

"We are not leaving you, friend Cyborg!" Starfire called back. The Tamaran turned to a frustrated Robin. "Robin, please, we have to go."

Robin glanced around angrily, clench his fists, and finally let out an angry "Alright!" The tension was terrible. It was a race against time as the Titans and the soldiers struggled to get the people out of there before the invaders arrived.

A while later, the bus was full. The Titans could only hope the military had brought enough trucks to evacuate them all. Upon seeing they were full, Lieutenant Myers gave them an okay to leave.

"Guys, get on the bus!" Cyborg shouted to his teammates. Out of the blue, a loud sound echoed from the distant darkness. Everyone fell silent. The Titans all snapped their heads in the direction the sound had come from. Another loud crack sounded from the direction the cylinder had landed.

"Uh-oh," Beast Boy whispered.

A loud crash, like something huge bursting out of a shell, echoed again. Then, a loud, eerie sound like a foghorn blasted out of the silence. The Titans' eyes widened in pure fright. "Go!" Robin shouted. He, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Raven dashed for the bus.

"Robin!" Raven called. "You go ahead. The rest of us will fly alongside."

"Raven, are you sure about that?" Robin asked. The mage nodded. "We'll be fine."

"Hey, do I have a say in this?" Beast Boy asked.

"Just shut up and do it!" Raven shot back. Beast Boy had no choice but to comply.

"Everyone, move out!" Lieutenant Myers yelled. Already, some of the full military convoys had pulled out and were making their way out of the abandoned town. As the last of the civilians boarded, Myers focused his attention on the Titans again. "You'd better get out of here. They'll be on us any minute." With that, he ducked back inside his hummer.

"Robin, quick!" Cyborg called. Robin dashed toward the vehicle and leapt inside. The bus was packed to the gills with scared refugees. Robin ducked behind Cyborg's seat.

"I'm in, Cyborg! Let's get out of here, quick!" he commanded. Cyborg needed no convincing. Without hesitating he stepped on the gas pedal and the heavy vehicle lurched forward. A sudden realization hit Cyborg. Without thinking, he switched off the bus's headlights as well as all the inside lights. The bus was enveloped in darkness, earning some panicked shouts from the crowd.

"Cyborg, are you crazy?" Robin shouted from behind.

"Relax, Robin!" Cyborg activated a night-vision feature in his mechanical eye. "If that thing arrives and sees us driving away, we're as good as dead! At least with our lights turned off it has less of a chance at seeing us."

"You're right! Good thinking, Cy," Robin said. He glanced out the window to see if he could see the other three Titans.

"Is he crazy? He just turned off his headlights!" Beast Boy said as he flew in bird-form next to Starfire and Raven.

"No, he's right!" Raven observed. "If they leave the lights on they'll see us!" Her senses told her they didn't have much time. Already, she thought she could here the faint echoes of giant footsteps in the beginning. The tripod was already on its way.

"Hurry, Cyborg," Starfire whispered to herself.

The bus and the military convoy were lined up like ducks on the road. Carefully, Cyborg navigated the twists and turns in the road. He just hoped his night vision wouldn't fail on him.

"Cyborg, do you know where you're going?" Robin asked.

"I'm fine, trust me!"

Outside, Raven could here the footsteps getting louder with each passing moment. She, Starfire, and Beast Boy flew close to the roof of the bus, occasionally looking back to see if the Martians had arrived.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Cyborg spotted the highway leading out of town. "There it is!" he shouted. He turned the wheel and followed the convoy trucks onto the entry ramp. The truck sped up the ramp, and soon, they were on the spacious road. Cyborg pressed down on the pedal and the bus accelerated even faster. His heart raced, and he hoped to god that the tripod wouldn't discover them.

Starfire looked back, and finally she saw the towering terror emerging. Over and behind the trees, she saw its huge scorpion head swiveling around; the blinding spotlight blazing down on the ground.

Cyborg glanced in his rearview mirror and practically yelped when he saw the tripod's reflection in it. It picked up one of its gigantic legs and sent it crashing down on the ground. It paused for a moment, and then fired its blue beams at the town below. Robin had dashed to the back of the bus to catch a glimpse of what was happening.

"Geez," Beast Boy muttered. Starfire and the others were crestfallen, but they were at least grateful they managed to get the others out in time.

Cyborg turned his focus back to the road ahead of him and gave a satisfied grin. They were safe, for now.

"Close call," Robin whispered to himself.

* * *

The Titans passed through what looked like countryside for some time. A few hours of non-stop driving passed like a year. By this time, the sun had come up. Cyborg wasn't sure where they were headed; he was just following the convoy ahead of him. The thing he cared about most was just getting away from the invaders. The half-machine hero let out a drawn-out yawn. The realization hit him that he hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours. Robin himself had to struggle to stay awake. Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy had taken a break from flying and rode along in the bus. 

"Where are we?" Beast Boy finally asked after some time.

Cyborg glanced at his GPS. "We're in some kind of rural area. There's not a town around for miles."

"Are we ever gonna stop? We've been driving for hours," Beast Boy moaned.

"Could you not complain for five little minutes?" Raven growled.

"Hey, they're slowing down," Cyborg observed. Surely enough, the entire line of military trucks packed with civilians were slowing down. When the convoy at last came to a halt, Cyborg opened the door and the five Titans departed the vehicle. The landscape was little more than flat plains with an occasional hill or patch of trees. From the looks of it, some of it appeared to be abandoned farmland.

Robin wasted no time in finding Lieutenant Myers. The soldier was inside his humvee talking to a couple other marines. He was holding a map in one hand and a radio in the other.

"Officer, what's going on?" Robin asked him.

Lieutenant Myers shook his head. "There's been a slight change of plans. We were originally going to head for this city right here." He pointed to a dot on the map that appeared to be a good distance north of their position. "We were hoping to drop the refugees off there."

"Let me guess," Robin replied. "It's been visited."

The soldier nodded. "Nope. But the officials there are scared it's next on the list. They want everyone moved down right here." He pointed to a dot on the map that was a good distance southeast of their location. "It's a small town with a military base. It's kind of remote. The guys figure the Martians might overlook it since it's such a small town. They seem to prefer targeting the populated places."

"So what now?" Cyborg asked.

"Well, we head there, of course. But we gotta do it soon."

"What about the nearby towns? What are we going to do about them?" Robin asked.

The soldier paused. "We were told to head straight for our destination."

"Care to elaborate on that?" Beast Boy asked.

The soldier sighed. Robin and Cyborg both glared at him. "We were told to head straight for our destination. We can't go looking for survivors or stragglers."

"What?" Robin asked loudly. "You're just going to leave them?"

"Look!" the soldier snapped back. "I want to get those people to safety as much as you do. But we don't have a lot of time, here. If one of those… 'things' comes here while we're looking for stragglers, we're as good as done. We got lucky back there, but we're not in any position to test our luck again. Our goal here is to get the people we already have to safety."

"But you cannot just forget about them!" Starfire objected. "What if someone needs help?"

The soldier's gaze fell. The other marines who were with him seemed no happier at the situation. "I'm sorry. But we have orders."

"But you can't--" Beast Boy started, but Robin cut in.

"No, he's right Beast Boy," Robin said sadly. He turned back to the lieutenant. "We can do it. You can get these people to safety."

"What?" Starfire asked.

"We'll look for people, Star. It's the best we can do for now. If someone out there needs our help, we'll give it to them." The other four heroes nodded in grim determination.

"Are you sure about this?" Myers asked him. Robin nodded. "Okay. We have enough room to carry your passengers. Although I'm not sure if it's a good idea to travel in a vehicle as big as that."

"We'll manage," Cyborg told him. Although he was wishing he had the T-Car with them. A while later, the people who had been riding in Cyborg's hijacked bus boarded the convoy trucks. Once everyone was boarded, Myers gave the signal for the convoy to get moving.

"Good luck!" he called out to the young heroes. Within moments, the entire convoy drove off and disappeared from view.

* * *

The Titans all sat outside under the bus's shade. Robin stood propped against the bus with his arms folded. Cyborg was examining his GPS, and Beast Boy was throwing rocks at seemingly nothing. Raven squatted on the ground with her hood over her eyes, and Starfire merely stood nervously, unsure of what to do. The sky was almost cloudless, with a gentle breeze flowing over the landscape. The only sound came from the wind and the birds chirping. The scene would have been rather soothing had it not been for the dire situation the world seemed to be coming to. 

"So, run this by me again?" Robin asked.

"As near as I can figure, we can head south first," Cyborg replied. "That's the closest town. It's a good distance, but we should make it in no time as long as we have a vehicle. Although once we're there, we may need to consider getting a different vehicle."

"Well, the sooner we get going, the better," Raven muttered from her meditations.

"If we find anybody, we can bring them along. I think we have enough food to be out here a few days. If we ever need to, we could go back to that base Myers was talking about. Beyond that, I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it."

Little more was said beyond that. Each Titan was buried in his or her own individual thoughts. So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours they could hardly believe it. It was so much to take in at once.

"Cy, are you sure you're up to driving? You haven't slept at all."

"I'm fine, Robin," Cyborg insisted. "We'd better get going here." Robin suggested again that Cyborg take a break and rest, but the cybernetic hero insisted. The bus filled with the five young heroes traveled south toward what Cyborg said was a small section of suburbs. A few hours later, they arrived at what indeed looked like a small suburb. The houses were placed sporadically, with a decent amount of space separating each one.

When that suburb came up empty, the heroes moved on to the next one. Each house came up just as empty as the last. They searched long past noon. Finally, they came to what appeared to a house in another rural part of the area. The Titans walked up to the entrance and wrapped on the door.

"Hello?" Robin called.

"You know, if there was anyone around, they probably would have seen or heard us by now," Beast Boy suggested.

"Can't hurt to try, I guess," Cyborg supposed. Robin tried the doorknob, and to his surprise, the door eased open. Cautiously, Robin stepped inside.

"Hello?" he called again. No answer.

"Seems empty to me," Raven said.

"I guess everyone decided to cut and run," Beast Boy observed. The inside of the house was fairly simple: white walls, quaint furnishings, white carpeting, and the like. And as every other house, it was eerily still. From behind him, Beast Boy heard Cyborg give another loud yawn. "Cy, are you okay? You seem really tired."

"Nah, I'm fine Beast Boy," Cyborg said lazily.

"I think perhaps we should rest for now," Starfire suggested. "We are all tired, and we need our strength."

"Yeah, you're right, Star. We'll continue after we've had some sleep." It wasn't near sunset yet, but the Titans were all exhausted. They all had gotten very little sleep the night before, and Cyborg had none. "We'll stay here for the night. Normally I wouldn't do this, but we don't have much of a choice," Robin told them.

A little while later, the Titans gathered in the basement of the house, deciding it would be safer then sleeping upstairs. The basement was good enough, anyway even if a little crude. There were couches and chairs below, and that would be good enough. They were tired to the point of not caring about sleeping on the ground, anyway.

They had tried to catch news of what had been happening elsewhere, but the house hadn't been receiving power. Having their first moment of peace in a while, the heroes finally managed to discuss the situation more fully.

"I just can't believe it might be gone," Beast Boy said sadly. "Jump City…Titan's Tower…all gone. It seems like ages since we've been there."

"I don't understand it, though. Why are they here? Why did they come down and invade on a whim?" Robin asked frustratingly.

"Because they're sadistic and evil, that's why," Beast Boy growled.

"I doubt it. At least, I think there's more to it," Raven hypothesized. "These beings are intelligent, that much we've gathered. They also seem to have no compunction against killing us off. I think there's got to be some reason why they are here."

"Maybe they're just here to conquer us. You know, make us their slaves," Cyborg suggested.

"Possibly. But we can't tell for sure right now," Raven said.

"I just can't believe these things are from _Mars_!" Robin said. "I mean, it goes against everything we thought. Mars was supposed to be a dead planet. Lifeless!"

"I guess we were wrong," Cyborg sighed. "It doesn't make sense, though. Why didn't know about them? I mean, for them to have avoided detection, they'd have to be living…"

"Underground," Raven finished for him. Her eyes widened. Suddenly, Beast Boy remembered the conversation that he and Raven had on the roof of Titan's Tower.

"I have to tell you something," Starfire said suddenly. The other Titans stared at her curiously. "These invaders were not unheard of. My people had known about them."

"Say what?" Cyborg asked, confused.

Starfire breathed a long, deep sigh, and went to explaining. Ever since the invaders arrived, Starfire had felt a strange sense that she had heard of them before, and she was right. She realized it last night, when Cyborg told her the aliens were from Mars.

As a child, her father had sometimes told her how Earth wasn't always the only life-giving planet in its solar system. Apparently, its neighbor planet had also harbored life at one time. She heard about a race that had "crawled on four legs" and built "gigantic machines" as testaments of their empire. But then, their planet started to die. And with their planet, the race started to die. Or so they had thought.

"My race thought they had died out. They thought they had gone forever, but we were wrong. My father told tales of how they were vastly intelligent and were experts of war. And now, they have returned." She lowered her head in grief. "I knew about them all along, I just did not remember. I am so sorry."

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" Robin asked her.

The Tamaran raised her head; her green eyes had started to glisten with tears. "You mean you are not angry with me?"

"Why should we be? You didn't know. And it's not your fault they invaded, anyway," he assured her.

"Although it would have helped a little to know this before. How come you never told us, Star?" Cyborg asked.

"They were just legends - child's tales, almost! I thought nothing of it, and forgot that they even existed."

"It's okay, Starfire. Just relax," Robin said calmly.

"You said something about their planet dying," Raven asked her. "What happened, if you remember?"

"About their planet? All I know is that I heard tales that it was much like your planet. But eventually, it started to die. Trees died, water dried up or froze, and the air thinned. And with that, their race disappeared. We thought they had died out, but it turns out they had simply fled underground."

Raven brooded on this. The Titans eyed her curiously, wondering what she was thinking. At last, the mage spoke. "Do you think it's possible…that perhaps they aren't here for us?"

"What?" Beast Boy asked.

"What if they aren't here to conquer us? What if they are here simply for…our planet?"

"Our planet?" Cyborg asked.

"Why not?" Raven replied. "It makes sense to me. Their own planet is no longer hospitable to their own kind. But our planet is perfect. Our planet is still livable. We have everything they need. Perhaps the Martians are here to set up their own society, nothing more. This war here – perhaps it is a war for our world."

The Titans stared blankly, dumbfounded at this.

"Do you think it's true?" Beast Boy asked after a moment of hesitation.

"I don't think anything right now. But of the choices, I'd say it's a good bet," she said darkly.

"Oh man," Beast Boy groaned. The green changeling slumped down on a couch. "So tired."

"We all need to sleep. We'll continue in the morning and figure things out," Robin said to them."

Meanwhile, Cyborg had already passed out on a sofa. The Titans all followed his example and lay down for the night. Each one brooded over the events that had transpired. Thoughts of Martians, tripods, and Jump City filled their thoughts as they passed into uneasy dreams.

* * *

Once again, sorry this took so long. But as I've said before, I don't have much time to write anymore, with school and everything going on. But I do intend to finish this fic. There are few things more disappointing then an unfinished story. Be sure to drop a review, any ideas, criticisms, etc. are fine, too. Adios. 


	6. Chapter 6: Countryside

Ah, screw the intro. Let's get to the story, shall we? Apologies will come after the chapter. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing, as usual.

**Chapter 6: Countryside**

Nightfall came, and the world was enveloped in darkness. For hours, the Titans slept in the cold basement of the abandoned home until the tip of the sun started to creep over the horizon. Gradually, the beams of sunlight crept through the narrow cracks in the windows and illuminated the basement. There was a screen door leading to the back yard on one end, and it just so happened to face east. Sunlight poured in through the large opening.

One of the beams fell on one of Beast Boy's eyes, waking him from his uneasy slumber. He blinked lazily and let out an animal-like yawn. He sluggishly sat up with the faintest hope that the last forty eight hours of his life were a dream. They weren't.

The other Titans were still sleeping. Cyborg had passed out on the couch, with Robin snoozing with his face buried in the cushions on the opposite end. Starfire slept soundly on a chair across from them. And Raven…was nowhere to be found. Beast Boy's heart leapt into his throat. He spun frantically around and was relived to see her standing near the screen door, staring out through its window. Beyond her, the view through the window showed the rural landscape beyond as well as the sunrise.

If she noticed him being awake, she didn't show it. She continued to stare through the window, as if she was studying the outside. The sunlight filtering in through the windows cast a piercing silhouette of her shape.

"Raven?" Beast Boy asked nervously. She was silent.

Finally, she murmured, "So still…"

Beast Boy's ears instinctively perked up. He had never realized it, but there was always a sort of activity going on in Jump City. Thousands of sounds, smells, and motions constantly filled the place; nothing ever seemed still. It now suddenly felt as if someone had pressed pause.

"It's so quiet," Beast Boy finally whispered back.

"It's the stony silence after the avalanche," Raven replied flatly.

Uncomfortable, Beast Boy decided to change the subject. "How long have you been up?"

Raven sighed. "At least an hour now." She paused uncomfortably. "They are growing stronger. I can sense it. Each hour that passes, more of them arrive. The invasion is in full force now."

Beast Boy winced. Of all things, this was what he wanted to talk about the least. And yet, it was still the thing that mattered most. He hated the irony. He sighed again and moved closer to her, yet still keeping his distance. "I hated fighting those things. But waiting around while they continue to destroy everything is even worse," he said while smiling sadly.

Raven shook her head. "Man has been fighting himself since the beginning of his time. Never before has any other species rose to challenge him. And now, the biggest threat facing he faces is not even of this world. Fate, it seems, is now without a sense of irony." She drew a long breath and continued to stare.

"What do you think we should do now?" he asked inquisitively.

For the first time, she turned her head to meet his gaze. "What can we do? We must fight them. But unfortunately, our foes have proved so far to be rather invincible. How do you fight an invincible enemy, Beast Boy?"

"I guess," he stuttered, "Maybe find their weakness?"

"But what weakness do they possess? What can we hope to find that will enable us to win?" She closed her eyes. "Until then, it will be a defensive war we fight. The best we can hope for now is to protect the innocent from them – to shelter them from harm if we can."

Beast Boy couldn't help but admire Raven's ability to keep a level head through all this. The sudden invasion had gotten to him immensely, yet she was able to remain cool and calculating through it.

Beast Boy heard stirring behind him and turned to see Cyborg sitting up. "Good morning, Cy," Beast Boy said, trying to sound cheerful. The huge teenager merely groaned in response. He stretched out his arms and loosed a deep yawn.

"Geez, what time is it?" he asked, noticing the sunrise.

"Who knows. We should probably get out of here soon, anyway," Beast Boy suggested.

Cyborg reached over and shook Robin awake. The masked Titan blinked and sat up. Cyborg walked over and did the same to Starfire. With everyone awake, the Titans decided to discuss the course of action.

"There's a large town about northeast of here," Robin told the others. "If it's populated, chances are it's next on their list. I don't want them to arrive before the people there have gotten a chance to evacuate. We can at least try to get everyone to that base Lieutenant Myers told us about yesterday."

"Then we'd better hurry," Cyborg stated. "The less time we stand around talking, the better."

"Are we still gonna take that bus?" Beast Boy asked. "I mean, it has a lot of space, but it doesn't seem like the most inconspicuous vehicle."

"Yeah, I know," Cyborg moaned. He was still wishing they had brought the T-Car along. "I don't want to say it, but we might want to lift one of the cars left here. I mean, it's not like they're gonna miss it."

"Cyborg, I am not sure that would be right!" Starfire protested.

"Desperate times, Star," Cyborg said back.

"And how would you hijack one, anyway?" Robin asked, eyebrows arched. "Unless you…"

"I can hotwire easily enough," Cyborg said with a devilish grin.

"Cyborg!" Beast Boy said in disbelief.

"Hey, it's not like I do it just for fun, you know. It just happens to be a handy skill in times like these."

"Well, if we're going to do it, we'd better do it quick," Raven added.

"Okay gang, listen up!" Robin cut in, silencing them. "At this point, we don't know of any way to fight these Martians yet. Until we find a way to beat them, there's not much we can do. Until then, our main goal is to save everyone we can from them. How's that sound?"

Everyone nodded in grim determination.

"Okay then. Let's go, Titans!"

* * *

Deciding that a bus was no longer a practical vehicle to use, Cyborg decided on a rather large SUV he found inside one of the garages. With a little hotwiring, he got it running while the rest of the Titans loaded the supplies from the bus into the car. As an extra measure, Cyborg siphoned some of the gas off the bus to carry along just in case.

Within moments, they were all on their way toward the city. It was a couple hours' worth of driving time at least before they would get there, however. With nothing really to do, Beast Boy sat lazily in the back seat and felt himself drifting slowly to sleep as miles of countryside passed before him. Just when he was about to doze off, a strange sight off in the distance startled him awake. When he saw what it was, he automatically feared the worst.

"Hey, guys! Guys! LOOK!" he shouted, pointing outside the window. "Stop the car, Cyborg!"

"Beast Boy, what the heck is it?" Cyborg asked, sounding annoyed. He complied with the changeling's request and brought the car to a halt. As soon as the vehicle was stopped, Beast Boy unfastened himself and leapt out of the car with the rest following after him.

"There!" he said pointing. Off in the distance, just over a tree-covered hillside, a small pillar of smoke was rising.

"Oh, great," Robin moaned. Starfire cupped her hands over her mouth. Raven merely glared at it.

"Oh, man. Please tell me it's not them," Cyborg groaned. He examined the hillside and found a small path of flattened trees as if something large had plowed through them and crashed into the hillside just beyond.

"Robin, what will we do?" Starfire asked earnestly. The masked Titan paused nervously. His hands balled into fists as he struggled over what to do. Should they keep going, or investigate. Finally, he came to his decision.

"Let's go over and check it out," he finally said.

"Robin, are you crazy?" Beast Boy asked, both frightened and bewildered.

"Look, that thing has probably just landed. We might be able to at least see if it really is one of their pods."

"Robin, what else could it honestly be?" Cyborg asked with arms folded.

"Look," Robin said a little louder than expected as he jerked his head in Cyborg's direction. "I know it's most likely a pod. But if it is, we might have a chance to destroy it before they come out."

"But we've been over this before, Robin!" Cyborg protested. "Those pods are like fortresses! They're impossible to crack!"

"I know!" Robin shouted unexpectedly. He turned his head back to look at the smoke. "But they have to come out eventually, right? And we know they don't put up their shields right away. Maybe if we're lucky, we can get them just as they come out _before_ they put up their shields."

"Sounds like a long shot to me, Robin," Cyborg huffed.

"Yeah, I know. But what else can we do?" he asked grimly.

After moments of debating, the crew finally decided to investigate the crash site. Starfire and Raven decided to fly off and investigate from above, then come back with news. A while later, the two of them returned.

"Well, what's up?" Robin asked from afar. As they neared, Robin saw that Starfire was wearing a frightened expression and Raven had her usual stony stare.

"Um, guys?" Beast Boy asked frightened.

"To answer your question, it's not a pod," Raven answered as she hovered in the air. "You should probably see it for yourself, though."

Curious, Robin allowed Starfire to carry him off while a Pterodactyl Beast Boy lifted Cyborg off toward the site, with Raven flying close by. As they neared it, the crash site came slowly into view behind the tips of the trees. The object they beheld, however, was definitely not a Martian pod.

"Geez, it's a plane!" Cyborg shouted as Beast Boy carried him. Indeed, before them lay the smoldering wreckage of a commercial airliner. The huge passenger jet was in bad shape. One of its wings had come off, and it was almost split in half at the middle, revealing the inside of it.

"Geez…" Robin muttered as he gaped at it.

The jet looked as if something had exploded from the inside, resulting in the split. Perhaps the fuel inside had exploded. There were in fact several large char marks on the plane's hull. Around the site, a few small fires had erupted, sending smoke into the air.

Finally, they arrived, and Starfire and Beast Boy dropped Cyborg and Robin. Beast Boy changed back, and the two girls landed beside them.

"Oh, man. This is just sick," Cyborg groaned. "What the heck could have happened here?"

"It looks like it exploded! There's char marks everywhere," Robin observed.

"Yeah, but how? Planes don't just explode in midair like that! To do that, it'd have to be-" Cyborg stopped in mid sentence as the realization dawned on him. "Oh, man," he groaned again.

"I guess the Martians are very thorough," Raven remarked coldly. Oddly, the most unusual and frightening aspect of the crash had yet to dawn on them.

"Um, guys?" Beast Boy finally asked worriedly. "Where are all the people?"

The rest except for Raven stared dumfounded at the site. Sure enough, the numerous dead bodies that should have been there were absent. Gone.

"Maybe…they survived?" Starfire suggested, though her tone clearly indicated she didn't believe what she was saying.

"Survive a crash like that? No way," Robin replied.

"Then where the heck are they? Dead bodies don't just up and walk away!" Cyborg shouted, waving his hand at the smoldering wreck. "Crap, they should be all over the place!" The huge Titan climbed up the wreckage and peered inside. Not a single body was inside the plane.

The group went silent, all deliberating. Starfire spotted something at the corner of her eye and looked in that direction. She let out a quick gasp which caught the attention of her friends.

"What's wrong, Star?" Robin asked. Starfire merely raised a hand and pointed. The rest all moved to get a better look at what she was pointing at. There, leading up out of the forest and to the wreckage, were what appeared to be deep tracks of a giant, three-legged object. A tripod had been to the crash site. Where it was now, they had no way of knowing.

Out of the group, Beast Boy whimpered. Raven lowered her head. Suddenly, everyone knew exactly what had happened, but were too afraid to come out and say it.

Finally, "Those filthy Martians," Robin growled. Starfire covered her eyes in grief. Raven closed her eyes and muttered silently to herself. It was painfully obvious now. For whatever diabolical reason, the invaders must have stolen every single body away from the crash site, leaving only the tangled, burning wreckage.

"What kind of sick, evil beings are these things?" Starfire asked out of the blue.

"Ones that view us as animals," Raven replied. The rest glanced back at her, then back at the humongous tracks.

"Dang. What on earth could they want those bodies for?" Cyborg asked, then gulped.

"I don't know. And I don't think I want to know," Robin answered. "I think we should move on, though."

The rest didn't object. The entire thing gave them the creeps. They all wanted to be away from the crash site as soon as possible.

* * *

The five of them finally made it back to the car, not saying a word to each other on the way. Just before they piled in, Beast Boy spoke up.

"Hey guys, can I, um, go?" he asked sheepishly.

"Go where?" Starfire asked. Raven rolled her eyes.

"No, I have to um, go to the bathroom," he corrected her, blushing.

Robin grunted. "Alright, Beast Boy. Just hurry up, okay?"

The changeling nodded and dashed off. The side of the road was lined with trees at the edge of a wooded area. Several bushes sprang up by the side as well. Beast Boy looked around, sighed, and walked deeper into the woods.

"Beast Boy, where are you going? Do ya really have to go that far?" Cyborg called.

"I don't want you guys to see anything!" he replied back.

"For crying out loud!" Cyborg yelled back. "There's nothing we would honestly want to see! Or maybe you'd like all of us to wear blindfolds just to be safe?"

"Just hurry up, Beast Boy!" Robin cut in.

Beast Boy groaned and quickly decided on a spot, hidden from view. "Maybe you can do it as a dog so it won't look weird!" Cyborg yelled sarcastically from the road.

"Shut up!" he replied.

Feeling rather awkward, Beast Boy shrugged and decided to get it over with. Right as he reached down at his zipper, something strange caught his eye. He leaned forward and squinted so he could get a better look at it. His eyes focused on a tree about fifty feet away near the side of the road. Forgetting he had to go, Beast Boy approached the tree. When he was finally close enough to get a look at what looked so strange about it, he practically gasped.

"Beast Boy, what's taking so long? Did you have one too many bottles of water, or something!"

"GUYS!" Beast Boy's scared voice came back in response. Sensing something was wrong, the other four dashed over to find Beast Boy.

"GUYS!" he called again. The other four finally found him standing in front of a tree, pointing at it and looking like he had seen a ghost.

"Beast Boy, what's…" Robin's voice trailed off as he noticed what had shocked Beast Boy.

"What's going on here?" Cyborg asked in angry confusion. He too stopped dead when he noticed the tree.

Winding up the tree from the base to about halfway up the trunk, clinging stiffly to it, was a plant unlike anything Beast Boy or any of them had ever seen. It appeared to be a thick vine of some sort, creeping its way up and around the tree and edging out along the ground around it. The vine branched off in hundreds of places like ivy and vaguely resembled a net. Tiny leaves sprouted from the plant in various ends. The oddest thing about it, though, was the color.

It was red. Deep red. The red weed, whatever it was, also seemed to be feeding off the plants around it. The tree it wrapped around seemed faint and weakened. The grass near the vine had started to turn brown and prickly. Beast Boy turned and found traces of the same red vine springing up on the ground nearby.

He didn't know what it was, but he only knew that it wasn't from this planet.

Cyborg cursed. "What the heck is this stuff?" he shouted. The entire past few moments had been one disturbing revelation after another, ending with this.

"I don't believe it," Raven muttered as she edged closer to the plant. "They're seeding this planet."

"What?" Robin asked.

The mage turned. "This plant, whatever it is, is not from this world! It was obviously planted by the Martians. If they're seeding this planet, it's not good."

After moments of uneasy silence, Robin finally said coldly, "Looks like you were right, Raven. Forget sightseeing. The invaders really are moving in."

"Oh, man," Beast Boy whimpered again. "This is not good. Not good."

Starfire drew nearer to the vine and gingerly touched it. The weed felt smooth and strangely moist. It seemed to be thriving despite being on a different planet. Suddenly, a surge of angry emotions boiled up within Starfire. Without warning, her eyes glowed green. Her hands swirled with energy, and she unleashed a green bolt at the vine. The rest, startled by her actions, jumped back in shock.

The Tamaran furiously loosed her green death upon the vine, burning it to a crisp. She didn't stop until every last inch of it was dead. When she was done, the alien merely stood there with a cold, hard look in her eyes. Her head dropped, and a small, barely visible tear rolled from her right eye.

Cautiously, Robin approached her from behind and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Star. Let's go." The Tamaran merely turned around, head still gazing at the ground, and let Robin lead her away.

"Why did this happen?" she whispered to herself.

"It's okay, Star," Robin tried to comfort her. But even Robin could feel his own desperation starting to sink in. Something had to be done, and fast. More and more the horrible reality weighed down on him: the entire world was at stake.

* * *

The group finally made their way back to the car. They piled in and drove off, resuming their path to the city. The car they drove moved a little too slowly for Cyborg's tastes. He _really_ wished they had brought the T-Car. After a few minutes of driving, Robin finally spoke up.

"Hey Cy," he said. "Let's turn on the radio. Maybe we can catch some news."

Cyborg nodded, and Robin leaned over and switched on the radio. Not surprisingly, static was all that was heard. Robin adjusted the radio, trying to sort through the static, until finally some audible dialogue was heard. He quickly tuned the radio until the sound could be heard clearly. On the other end, a male voice was speaking, rattling off news of the invasion thus far. The Titans all listened intently to the radio, eager to hear any news from the rest of the world.

"_About seven tripods, and an additional cylinder, have been reported about nine miles east of St. Louis, and are making their way toward the city."_ the man spoke.

"Dang. I hope they made it out in time," Cyborg said. The rest quickly shushed him.

The man continued, _"A wave of tripods have now made their way through Houston, and according to witnesses have already leveled the city. A second group was reported about twenty miles north of there. All fighter jets dispatched to the city to attack the invaders did not return. In addition, a large group of tripods have been seen pouring out of Jump City, and are making their way due east."_

Robin pounded on the dashboard angrily.

"_More Martians were already spotted landing in Philadelphia and New York. A wave of military forces dispatched by the Army and the Air Force are heading for the two cities, and are trying to-"_ the voice was drowned in static.

Robin cursed. "Figures!" He slumped back in the seat and folded his arms angrily. "Step on it, Cy." The cybernetic teenager complied, and the SUV lurched forward even faster.

* * *

As they drove, clouds started to gather as they neared the next city. By the time they spotted the buildings in the distance, it was overcast and dark. From the looks of things, Beast Boy predicted it would soon rain. His prediction proved true when water droplets started pattering against the windshield of the car.

"Well, this is nice," Cyborg grunted. He switched on the wipers. The Titans neared the city little by little. It wasn't a big city, but it was at the same time significantly larger than the town they had been in. As they approached, they came to a railroad track running across the street. The red lights were flashing, the warning bell was ringing, and the divider lowered.

"Looks like some people are taking the train out," Beast Boy said from the back. The rest merely sat and waited for the train to cross. They soon heard the rattle of train wheels approaching. Beast Boy's ears perked up.

"That train sounds like it's coming pretty fast, doesn't it?" he asked the rest. Cyborg merely shrugged. The sound of the train grew louder, and at last, it came into the view.

Every Titan in the car gasped.

The train rocketed over the tracks, out of control. The entire thing seemed to be lit up with blazing fire as flames erupted out of practically every window of every car. Starfire screamed. Raven's eyes widened to the size of plates, and Beast Boy loosed a scared yelp. Cyborg let out a surprised "Whoa!", and Robin's jaw dropped.

Within a few seconds of its arrival, the train cleared the road and kept hurtling down the tracks, gradually disappearing from view. As if everything were normal, the red lights stopped flashing, the bell silenced, and the divider raised.

Every Titan in the car stood frozen, overcome from the shock of what they had just seen. After moments of staring emptily ahead, Robin finally snapped out of his trance. They had to get to the city, and _fast_.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" he yelled. Cyborg was more than happy to comply, and his foot instantly went to the gas pedal.

* * *

Just to assure you, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. This is the longest I've ever gone without updating a story! Sorry about that, guys. But as I've said, I don't have as much time to write these fics as I'd like. My AP course teachers are sadistic, I tell ya:) The fact that I got lazy on these fics didn't help much, either. This chapter's a little shorter than the previous ones. I don't know how soon I'll be able to update, but I hope you at least liked this chapter, and aren't _too_ mad at me for the cliffhanger. Also, I upped the rating of this fic just to be safe. As always, please R&R. Cheers. 


	7. Chapter 7: Divided

Oh yeah, chapter 7 has arrived! Consider it my Christmas present to you readers. :) Well, I haven't broken my 8-week-no-update record yet, so I think I'm good. _War of the Worlds_ also came out last month. Yeeeeehaw! Awesome movie. Hope you guys like this chapter, and as usual, sorry for the wait. Also, for any of you that might have read the book, there's a tiny scene and a line of dialogue taken from the novel (see if you can spot it).

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Divided**

The car lurched forward as it entered the dark confines of the city. Rain pattered against the windshield as the five Titans sped along, hoping that they had arrived in time before the invaders had.

"Guys, that train…they're here already!" Beast Boy panicked.

"Keep driving, Cy! We don't have much time!" Robin urged. Cyborg was more than happy to comply. He pressed his foot against the brakes as the car made a sharp turn at an intersection. It was starting to get dark out, and the clouds only added to the dimness. The streets were abandoned for the most part, there wasn't anybody in sight.

"Looks like it may have been evacuated," Cyborg thought aloud.

"I don't think so," Raven murmured.

"There are cars still here, though," Robin noticed.

"Do we even know where we're going?" Starfire asked nervously.

"Guys, I think I remember on the map there was a river running through here. Let's go check it out."

"Cyborg, turn left," Raven suddenly commanded from the back seat.

"What?"

"Just do it!"

Without question he turned the wheel. Up ahead, he could see what looked like a break in the buildings.

"The people are all gathering ahead. That's where we'll find them," Raven explained.

"Be careful, guys," Robin cautioned. "Scared people can be pretty dangerous. Especially if you have a working vehicle."

Cyborg squinted to see up ahead. There was an abrupt stop in the skyscrapers and a wide open space was apparent. Within, he could see huddled masses of civilians. "Hey guys, I think the river might be up ahead!"

As they drove on, the crowd of civilians grew thicker and thicker. Some pounded on the windows as they went by, startling poor Beast Boy and Starfire. Cyborg responded by going a little faster. They could at last make out bright spotlights lined up along what looked like a dock. They could see large military trucks sticking up out of the crowd. Soldiers dotted the scene here and there. Lined up at the entrance to the docks were a row of soldiers blocking the path to the ferry. Finally, the crowd of people got to thick, and Cyborg was forced to stop.

"Um, guys?" Beast Boy asked worriedly. More people were now pounding on the windows or trying to open the doors. Panicked citizens were shouting, begging, or demanding that they opened the doors.

"Well, this is nice," Robin said sarcastically.

Finally, a loud bang on one of the windows startled everyone in the car. Someone was now trying to break in.

"Guess that's our cue to exit," Cyborg said as he opened the doors. The huge titan stepped out and brandished one of his laser cannons at the crowd.

"Get away! Get back!" he demanded. The frightened civilians all back off in fear. It broke his heart to see their scared faces, but now was no time for niceties. These were dangerous times.

"Hey – you the Teen Titans?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Yeah," Robin said as he stepped out of the car.

"Wonderful. We could use some help here," the soldier said. The other three young heroes poured out of the car. Starfire meekly apologized for the "harsh" treatment to the citizens, at which Cyborg rolled his eyes.

"First, tell us what the heck's going on here!" Robin demanded.

One of the soldiers sighed. "We got reports of some of those tripods heading this way. We don't know how long it'll be, but we don't have that much time before they arrive."

"Can't they drive out of here?" Cyborg asked him.

"No! Those Martians know all about our methods of travel. They're sticking close to the highways now to zap any car that drives by. It isn't safe. Fortunately, they seem to be ignoring the waterways for now. Most people left already either on foot or by car. We're trying to get this ferry out of here to get some of these citizens to safety. Unfortunately, we don't have enough room for everyone."

"That's not true!" an angry man shouted from the crowd. "There's room on that boat!"

"Sir, those cars are taking up too much space and weight on the boat!" one of the soldiers protested. "Too many people and the ferry'll sink, and we don't have enough time to get them all off!"

"But that is not fair!" Starfire suddenly shouted at him. "You cannot just leave them here! They shall die!"

"We don't have a choice!" the soldier said desperately. "It's either save a few or let them all die! I don't like it any more than you do!"

"You can't do this!" a woman shouted from the crowd.

"I have children!" another woman shouted. "This is just inhuman!"

Amidst the shouting and chaos, a loud shot echoed the air. Everyone was silenced, and there stood Cyborg with his hand raised in the air from firing off a round from his laser.

"Robin, we gotta do something," the bionic teen said grimly.

Robin's eyes narrowed as he pondered. "We gotta get every car off this boat," Robin said. His eyes shifted to Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy. "Guys, we're gonna need your help." They all nodded knowingly.

"What's going on?" another soldier who was standing guard at the docks asked.

"Sir," Robin addressed him, "we're going to get these cars off the ferry. We just need a little time."

One of the soldiers, who looked like the commanding officer, finally nodded. "Okay, fine. But you'd better hurry. We ain't got much time."

The Titans all nodded. "Let's go, guys!" Robin shouted. All five of them rushed on to the fairy. Using their massive strength, Starfire and Cyborg lifted cars into the air and tossed them out of the ferry. Raven, using her powers, lifted the cars into the air and off the boat. Beast Boy transformed into a muscular gorilla to assist Cyborg and Starfire in their efforts.

Robin, who couldn't move the cars on his own, could only watch as his teammates work. Using her hidden might, Starfire hoisted a car up in the air and threw it into the water. Cyborg and Beast Boy picked up a rather large truck and tossed it overboard. The boat was now half-empty. In the midst of all their work, the ever-ominous foghorn blast of the tripods sounded in the distance. They were getting closer.

Frantically, the Titans picked up their pace. Raven focused as much as she could on the vehicles below. A swirl of black energy encircled a car below, lifted it, and sent it hurling away. The crowd of frightened citizens and hopeful soldiers watched as the Titans cleared the boat of every vehicle. There were now only a few cars left. His muscles burning, Beast Boy helped Starfire lift another car off the boat. Despite the cool evening air, Starfire had managed to work up a sweat from the exertion. Finally, with a mighty heave, Cyborg sent the last vehicle out.

"Guys, we're done!" Beast Boy shouted from the ferry.

"They're done!" Robin shouted to the guards. "Quick, let them on!"

At the command of their leader, the soldiers stepped aside and assisted the people onto the boat. Everyone rushed into the boat as fast as they could, cramming themselves inside.

"Quick, get in! Hurry!" Robin shouted to them.

"Everyone in! Please board in an orderly fashion!" a soldier's voice sounded over an amplifier.

Robin noticed a man drop a suitcase, which opened and spilled its contents. He frantically bent down to pick everything up. From Robin's perspective, it look like little more than a few personal belongings and money.

"Sir, you'll have to leave that behind! Don't waste time with valuables!" The man stood up to protest, at which Raven rushed over to his side. She grabbed him by the shoulder to get his attention, and pointed off into the distance.

"Do you know what's out there?" she asked him angrily. The man didn't answer, but stared at her in bewilderment.

"Death is coming! Death!" she shouted at him. That must have convinced him, for he forgot about his suitcase and joined the hurrying mass. She always did have a way with words. The rain, which had been pouring on the unfortunate crowd, was now tapering off.

The people poured in until they were packed. Finally, the last person boarded. "Okay, they're all in! Raise that ramp!" Robin shouted. At his command, a pair of soldiers pulled a lever on a winch and the ramp to the ferry rose. The five Titans all stood at the docks as the boat prepared to leave. Behind them, a speeding army jeep came to a screeching halt. A marine stepped out and waved to the rest.

"They're here! They're coming!" he shouted. Right afterward, the Titans could here thunderous footsteps of the Martian war machine approaching. _Boom…boom…boom…_

The boat's pilot started up the engines, and the ferry pulled away and started heading down the river.

"This is it," Robin said as he prepared himself. The other four lined up beside him as the giant footsteps drew nearer. _Boom…boom…boom…_

Finally, the giant tripod emerged from behind one of the buildings. The machine let loose another loud blast; its six tentacles waved menacingly.

"Alright, guys. We gotta distract this thing long enough to let that ferry get away," Robin said to the rest of them. He turned to the soldiers. "You guys better get out of here. We'll hold them off." The soldiers were hesitant.

"Kid, you don't actually expect to-"

"Just GO! There's no time!" Robin shouted. They complied, and their vehicles sped away. Their movement caught the attention of the tripod. The humongous walker swiveled its head in their direction and focused its spotlight on them. The bright beam of light pierced the darkness as it shone on them.

"Alright guys, we've been through this before," Cyborg spoke to the rest. "Be fast and smart. Dodge those tentacles, and try to stay as spread out as possible."

"Yeah, and watch out for that heat ray!" Beast Boy added.

"Titans, go!" Robin shouted. The five rushed at the tripod. Before it had a chance to even fire a shot, Starfire and Raven were both zipping around the machine like mosquitoes. The force fields rendered all their attacks useless, but it bought them much-needed time. As they had hoped, the Martians focused their attacks on them.

A cheetah Beast Boy ran and dodged the heat rays fired at him. Cyborg let loose with several barrages from his own lasers. The tripod responded by attempting to grab him with one of its tentacles, which he dodged easily.

Starfire and Raven both flew around the tripod's head, throwing out waves of green and black death at the machine. Robin drew out a device he'd been working on for some time – a potent smoke grenade. Dodging another laser blast, he threw the grenade down and it erupted into a thick cloud of smoke. Not wasting a moment, he dashed behind the line of smoke and ducked behind a building.

Not knowing if he was there or not, the tripod fired furiously into the cloud of smoke, hitting nothing but ground. Robin almost laughed at the situation. So far, their strategy was working. Now growing frustrated, the Martians steered their tripod forward and continued down the street toward the river, all while trying to drive off the five heroes at once.

"We can't let them get the ferry!" Beast Boy shouted.

When it exited the row of buildings, the tripod paused, and a portal opened at the top of its head. Immediately, a silvery, metallic cylinder was shot into the air. Suddenly recalling what the first tripod had done, fear momentarily seized Robin. They were trying to use an EMP. Dashing out from behind the building, he called out to Starfire.

"Starfire! Take that thing out!" he pointed at the small cylinder, which hovered in the air and was now starting to spin.

With lightning reflexes, the Tamaran sent a green bolt at the cylinder, blowing it to pieces before it could activate. In response, the tripod's tail-like rear laser fired a red beam at her, which she dodged just in time. The head swiveled and faced the river. Off in the distance, the ferry was still just visible. The tripod's heat rays moved to focus on the boat.

With only seconds to spare, Raven flew in front of the tripod. Focusing with all the strength she could muster, she threw up a solid black wall in front of the tripod just as its heat rays fired. With the impact of a truck, the lasers hit Raven's shield. Fighting as hard as she could, she kept the force field up.

The rest knew she couldn't last long. Reminding himself to thank her later, Beast Boy turned into a massive T-Rex. Picking up a stray car in his jaw, he flung it at the tripod from behind. The vehicle smashed against the tripod's force field, distracting it from Raven. The head swiveled around to focus on the rest of them. Just in time, Beast Boy transformed into a bee and flew to safety.

"Yeeha! Try to catch me!" he mocked.

The Martians seemed to lose interest in the boat and turned all their attention on the Titans. They furiously let lose their heat rays and tentacles, none of them hitting home.

As Robin dodged a tentacle, he heard a noise from behind him. He didn't know what to expect when he turned to look, but he certainly wasn't prepared to see an SUV flying at him. Yelping out unexpectedly, he dodged right before the SUV smashed him into the pavement. Regaining his footing, Robin looked at the direction it had come from. Standing next to the line of buildings, a second tripod stood, with a third one coming up behind it.

"Oh, crap. Looks like our friends called for help," Cyborg shouted.

"Let's get outta here, guys!" Beast Boy yelled to the rest. The five of them abandoned their efforts and made their way toward the cluster of buildings, dodging heat rays as they went. They didn't know if the people had made it to safety, but they also knew they couldn't fight three at once.

One of the heat rays hit a skyscraper, shattering and splintering it as if it were made of toothpicks. The five ran down an abandoned street and turned onto a dark alley. "What do we do now?" Beast Boy asked, panting heavily.

"There's gotta be more coming," Cyborg panted. "We gotta get out of here." Off in the distance, they could hear the Martian heat rays laying waste to the city.

"It won't be long before they reach us. Let's go!" Robin ordered the rest. Starfire immediately responded by picking Cyborg up in her arms. Beast Boy transformed into a large eagle and picked Robin up by the shoulders. The five of them flew out from the labyrinth of skyscrapers toward the outskirts of the city.

"Look!" Cyborg shouted. He pointed off in the distance at a sight which made them gasp. Off in the distance, through the darkness, they could see a large line of tripods heading toward the city. There must have been at least ten, no, at least twenty of them. The wave of machines marched slowly and ominously toward them, their bright spotlights piercing the darkness. It was like looking at a line of walking death.

The Titans flew off away from the advancing line of Martians toward what looked like a safe area. Finally, at last safely away from them, they stopped and landed on top of a small, undeveloped hill. Off in the distance, they could still see the city. Flashes of blue and red pierced the darkness as the Martians unleashed their fiery death upon the city. Mercilessly, they destroyed everything in their midst. Entire buildings crumbled and fell before the Martians' furious onslaught. The Titans could only hope there was nobody left in the city.

Robin just happened to glance over and could see tears falling silently down her face. Not even thinking, he edged closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. She responded by leaning her head on his shoulder. The other three merely watched in silence as the scene unfolded before them. Finally, not wanting to see any more, the five of them got up and continued to head away from the destruction.

* * *

The five of them were exhausted, but until they were good and far away from the invaders, it wouldn't be safe to rest. They moved on for what seemed like hours. The five of them, now with no vehicle, walked along an old dirt road in a rural part of the area. From behind, there suddenly arose a humming sound off in the distance. 

"What is…" Robin began, but his question was prematurely answered. A low-flying line of army helicopters emerged from behind the hilltops. Their bright spotlights cast light around them through the darkness. Robin waved in attempt to catch their attention, but it was to no avail.

"Where are they heading?" Beast Boy asked aloud. Looking off in the distance, he could see flashes of light.

"Quick! Let's get over there!" Cyborg shouted to the rest. As fast as they could, the five of them sped off toward where the flashes of light were coming from. They could hear loud explosions and hisses as they neared. Emerging over the top of a hill, they finally caught glimpse of a chaotic sight.

Hordes of fleeing civilians were scrambling in panic away from what appeared to be a huge battle going on. Lines of army tanks and vehicles rumbled along the grassy hills over the top of another hill. "Oh no. They're here, too," Starfire realized as they neared the battle.

The five of them rushed down the hill and into the valley. They frantically pushed their way through fleeing civilians, all while trying to avoid being run over by tanks. All the soldiers and vehicles were heading up and over the hill above them. Though they couldn't see them, the five Titans knew a group of tripods lurked just over the hill.

An army jeep with three soldiers, one speaking into a radio, stood parked on the hillside. "We have engaged the target. All attempts have no effect. Repeat, no effect!" he shouted into the radio.

"Our mission is to delay their advance until those civilians can get to safety!" another one of them shouted.

"Wait! What's happening!" Robin asked one of them.

"There's three of them just over that hill! We're trying to hold 'em off so these refugees can get to safety! Come on people, let's move!" the soldier shouted.

Everything was mass chaos. The helicopters flew overhead, firing volleys of missiles. The tanks and jeeps rolled up and over the hill, firing at their unseen target. Deafening explosions pierced the air repeatedly, deafening them. Clouds of smoke hung over the area, obstructing their vision and filling their nostrils whenever they breathed.

"Guys, we can help!" Robin shouted over the mass hysteria. "We'll hold them off as long as we can!"

"What?" Beast Boy shouted, unable to hear amidst all the noise.

"Just follow me!" Robin lead them up the hill toward the ensuing battle. Beast Boy caught glimpse of a jeep lit up in flames rolling back down the hill. Gritting his teeth and trying to keep his head level, he pushed on. Up above he saw a blue beam split the night air and hit one of the helicopters overhead. The thing exploded and fell to earth in flames.

"Yikes!" Beast Boy shouted without thinking. Though it was dark out, the scene was repeatedly lit up by the explosions, missiles, and artillery rounds being fired off. The machine gun fire only added to all the noise going off around him to the point where he couldn't even hear himself think.

Raven, who had been in following them from behind, saw another tank lit up in flames rolling down the hill. The huge vehicle rolled down, out of control toward fleeing civilians below. She instinctively focused on it as it rolled down. "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she shouted. Her black energy enveloped the tank and slowed it down, trying to bring it to a stop. Turning around briefly, Beast Boy noticed she had fallen behind.

"Wait!" Beast Boy shouted to the other three, but none of them heard. "Raven!" the changeling shouted to her.

The small mage snapped her head in his direction. "Beast Boy, just go on without me!" she shouted back. Another missile zipped over there heads as they yelled.

"Raven, I can't just leave you here! It's too dangerous!" he protested. Another helicopter crashed uncomfortably close to where they were standing. He turned his head back. The other three still hadn't noticed they had fallen behind. "Guys, wait!" he shouted again, but it was impossible to hear.

The mage looked at him angrily. "Beast Boy, just-" before she could finish, an explosion, maybe caused by a stray shell, erupted right beside her. The force sent her flying through the air and head-first into a nearby tree.

Beast Boy gasped. "Oh, no! Raven!" he screamed. He turned around again to look for his friends. He tried to look, but it was nearly impossible to see anything amidst all the smoke and confusion. "GUYS!" he shouted one last time. He looked back at Raven. Her body lay limp on the ground, facedown in the dirt. In a blind effort, he dashed over to where she was laying.

He rushed over by her side, hoping she was still alive. He could see a small trickle of blood flowing from where her head was. "Oh, no," he moaned again and desperately turned her over. He was relieved to see her breathing, but her eyes were closed. Upon drawing back her hood, he saw a rather large gash on her forehead where she had hit. "Raven, are you okay?" he asked her loudly. No response. She was unconscious.

Another explosion erupted behind him. Fearing for both their lives, Beast Boy's mind raced through what to do. He couldn't leave her here, it was too dangerous. But what about his friends?

"Where's Beast Boy and Raven?" Cyborg asked when he finally noticed they weren't behind them. Hearing that, Robin and Starfire turned around. "Where are they? Do you see them?" he asked frantically.

"Raven! Beast Boy!" Starfire shouted. Robin looked around, but couldn't spot them.

"Crap! We have to go back and find them!" Robin shouted. Another explosion erupted behind them. All three turned around. A large fire had erupted at the top of the hill. From behind the line of fire, enveloped in flames, arose the massive scorpion head of one of the tripods. Slowly, the huge death machine lifted itself up and over the hill, followed by two others. Another missile from a helicopter streaked toward them and erupted against their force field. The tripod lifted a massive leg and stepped right over the Titans. The humongous machine moved with speed toward the fleeing mass of civilians who still had not gotten very far away.

One of the tripods focused on the soldiers below them. In an eerily familiar sight, two missiles fired out from underneath the tripod's head and streaked toward the ground. "Uh oh," Cyborg said, remembering what they were. The missiles struck the ground, and a thick cloud of black gas erupted from them.

From where he was, Beast Boy could see the gas missiles strike. Now, he had no choice. Having breathed some of the gas in himself at one point, he knew how deadly it was. He had to get Raven to safety, or they would both die. Making up his mind, he transformed into a large, green lion. As gingerly as he could, he picked up the small mage in his jaws. He hoisted her up gently and trotted off away from the carnage.

Desperately peering through the darkness, he scanned the area for some place to hide, anywhere he could just to get Raven to safety. Finally, out of the corner of his eye, Beast Boy spotted a small, solitary house. He didn't know how safe it would be, but of his options, he didn't really have a choice. With his cat speed, he ran off toward the house, praying he wouldn't be seen.

"Robin, we have to get out of here!" Cyborg shouted.

"NO! I'm not leaving Raven and Beast Boy!" Robin shouted. The tripods seemed to simply ignore them and headed off toward the fleeing refugees.

"Robin, I want to find them, too! But we can't stay here! If we stay here, we'll die, too!" to underscore his point, he pointed toward the ever-growing cloud of poisonous gas. At the rate it was spreading, it wouldn't be long before it reached them.

"I'm not going to leave them!" Robin shouted angrily.

"Robin, listen to me!" Cyborg screamed at him. "It's too late! We can't help them! If we stay here, we'll only get ourselves killed! I know it, and you know it, too!"

"Cyborg is right, Robin! We have to leave!" Starfire interjected.

Seething with anger, Robin clenched his fists. "Alright!" he shouted. The three of them sped off to safety.

Beast Boy finally reached the house. Off to the side of the house, he noticed a trapdoor which must have lead to a basement. With small sense of relief, he rushed over to the trapdoor and put Raven down gently. Turning back into human form, he tested the trapdoor and was relieved to find it unlocked. Before going in, he turned one last time toward the scene of chaos. Beyond, he could see the three tripods hovering ominously over the fleeing humans.

Instead of firing at them, as Beast Boy had thought, the tripod were instead reaching up with their tentacles and picking up humans as they fled. One after the other, the metallic tentacles picked up struggling humans into the air. The tentacles then proceeded to drop them into a portal on the back, which sent the humans into two baskets on the underside, which Beast Boy hadn't noticed before.

The frightened changeling gulped as he saw this bizarre "harvest" taking place. Not wanting to see more and with little time on his hands, he switched to gorilla form and picked up Raven's limp body. He wasn't sure if anyone was down there, but at this time it didn't matter.

In his arms, Raven's body seemed so small and light. It was kind of odd, considering she was always bigger than Beast Boy. He grumbled to himself as he realized just how small he really was. Slowly, he descended the stairs into the dark basement. Scanning the surroundings, he saw a small, dirty couch which he proceeded to lay Raven on. Hurrying back up, he closed and locked the trapdoor.

Meanwhile, Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg hurried away from the rampaging tripods. They had managed to get some of the refugees away by fleeing under cover of the trees. Some of the more unfortunate ones were picked up kicking and screaming by the tripods' tentacles. The Titans didn't know what they were doing, but they didn't have the time or the desire to think about it. Briefly, Robin was reminded of the plane wreck they had seen earlier. Turning around one last time as he fled, he looked off in hopes that he might see Raven and Beast Boy behind them. But they weren't. "Sorry, guys," he whispered to himself.

After a minute of searching, Beast Boy found a first aid kit in the basement. He smiled a little at finally having some good luck in all this. Taking a cloth, he wiped up some of the blood that had accumulated on her forehead. Then, after applying some antiseptic, he wrapped her head up in bandages. He then propped her head up on one of the pillows. Finally done, he collapsed on the floor next to the couch. Listening, he could here the sound of the tripods fading away into the distance, softer and softer. He hoped to god the others were okay. He also hoped Raven's injury wasn't serious. So many thoughts were racing through his head, but he felt the power of sleeping starting to take him as he drifted off into his dreams once more.

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Well, I wanted to get this chapter out last week, but I was loaded with an unexpected amount of homework. I hope you guys like this chapter, as usual. And as usually, don't expect many updates through the winter. Okay, did you figure out which seen it was? Answer: it was the scene in which Raven was yelling at the man who dropped his suitcase. :) Thanks so far to everyone who's been reviewing so far, and thanks especially for your patience! Oh, have a good Christmas, everyone! 


	8. Chapter 8: The Enemy of My Enemy

Chapter 8 is here! Look for some more explanations, as well as another familiar face.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. NONE!

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**Chapter 8: The Enemy of My Enemy…**

Morning had come at last, and silence fell upon the landscape once again. It would have been rather picturesque had it not been for the grey clouds which blocked out the sky. Starfire couldn't help but notice, however, that it was unusually silent. No birds chirping, no animals moving about. All seemed still, except for the people moving through the area.

She could tell it would be another hot day, but she was almost too tired to care. She, Cyborg, and Robin hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours. They had been constantly moving since they woke up the previous day. Last night, they narrowly escaped a Martian attack. Where the invaders were now, they didn't know.

Actually, two of them hadn't escaped last night's attack. Raven and Beast Boy were nowhere to be found. Starfire hoped to Tamaran that they had escaped. She couldn't even bear to think about the alternative... Robin hadn't been taking it very well, either. He hadn't said a word to either of them since last night. Cyborg and Starfire had been walking together the entire time, but Robin walked ahead of them, alone.

Cyborg must have noticed her brooding, because he looked down at her and spoke up. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

She sighed and looked up at him with her big, green eyes. "I am fine, friend Cyborg. I'm just very worried." Half of it was a lie. She wasn't fine, but she certainly was worried.

"I know, Starfire. I'm thinking about them, too." By 'them', he referred to Raven and Beast Boy.

"Do you think they are okay, Cyborg?" she asked him, as if looking for some comfort.

Cyborg frowned. "I don't know, Star. But I really hope so."

Starfire frowned and lowered her head.

"Hey," Cyborg spoke up again. "If there's one thing I know about those two, they're survivors. Raven's about as smart as they come. And he may not show it all the time, but Beast Boy's got the courage of a lion. If anyone can make it through, it's them."

Starfire cracked a smile, but it quickly vanished. "I am worried about Robin. He seems to be taking this hard, as well." She looked up ahead. Robin was still keeping pace a good distance ahead of them, not even looking back.

"Just let him go, Star. He'll be fine. But If I know Robin, he's probably blaming himself for what happened."

"But it wasn't his fault! We had no choice but to leave them behind!"

"I know, but you tell him that. Robin's a hero at heart, but it can get the better of him. He gets really frustrated when he's forced to run away. I can't help feel a little guilty myself. sigh We're so used to having to be the ones to chase down the bad guys. Man, the irony in this is just cruel."

"Oh, Cyborg, how I wish this did not happen! I wish I could summon a whole army of Tamarans to help this planet and drive off these invaders!"

Cyborg looked down at her. "That would be nice. Not to offend you or anything, but I'm not sure even they would be much help, at least in getting past those force-fields. Man, I gotta learn that technology, cause I've never seen shields as powerful as the ones on those tripods. They really came prepared."

Starfire groaned. "I suppose you are right. Even if they could help, we have no means of contacting them. We have just…us. It's all up to humans now." She stared blankly and found herself licking her lips unexpectedly. Her mouth felt dry. Suddenly, she realized she hadn't drank or ate anything since yesterday. It wouldn't be long before the thirst would start to get to her.

Up ahead, Robin stopped. Slowly, he walked up to a tree and propped himself against it. For the first time that day, he spoke to them. "Let's rest a moment, guys." He slid down to the ground and leaned his head back against the trunk.

The Tamaran and the bionic teenager approached him and sat down beside him. Starfire looked at Robin meekly, appearing as if she wanted to say something, but was afraid to. A moment of awkward silence passed.

"If I remember the map correctly, there should be a mountain range east of here. Maybe we could have the people hide there," Cyborg suggested.

"Yeah, more running. Always running," Robin growled. Cyborg remained silent.

"Robin," Starfire asked meekly, "Are you okay?"

Robin shot her an angry look. "Gee, Starfire. I don't know. Why don't you take a guess?"

Starfire blushed and lowered her head. Cyborg glared at Robin. "Hey, calm down, alright? She's just worried about you."

"Look, that's fine, but I don't really need sympathy right now, okay?" he snapped back.

"Robin, what's wrong?"

"Do you even have to ask that?" Robin asked, his voice now raised. He stood up and spread his arms. "Everything! All of this is wrong! The last three days were wrong! Us running away and hiding like scared animals is wrong!"

"Hey, we all feel that way, okay?" Cyborg stood up to face him. "But it's not like we can really help that right now!" He folded his arms and glared at Robin, who stared straight back. "Just what do you say we do about it, huh?"

Robin sneered and pointed off in the distance. "I say we stop running. I say we go back there, find them, and get back at them for _what they did_!" he shouted.

"What?" Cyborg gave an abrupt, bewildered laugh. "Do you even know what you're saying? I don't know if you've noticed or not, but so far those aliens have proved to be pretty invulnerable so far!"

"Well, we're never going to find a way to defeat them if we keep running!" Robin shouted back."

"Yeah, and how do you propose to find their weakness? Throw yourself at them, hoping your courage will magically make their force-fields malfunction?"

"Friends, please-" Starfire tried to interject.

"Maybe you'd prefer for us to just keep hiding with out tails between our legs while they take over, right?"

"Of course not! But what are we supposed to do? These people still need our help, and I'm not going to abandon them just because I want to play 'hero'!"

Robin scowled. "You mean like we abandoned Raven and Beast Boy?"

"_Oh no_," Starfire thought.

"Hey, you think I wanted to leave them?" Cyborg shouted. "I wanted to find them just as much as you did! But it's not like we had much of a choice back there!"

"We could have gone back! We could have looked for them when we had the chance!"

"Robin, we-" Starfire started.

"I didn't ask you, did I?" Robin shouted at her.

"Hey, don't yell at her!" Cyborg yelled back. "Now you're just being a jerk!"

"Well, if I'm being a jerk, it's because I'm a little tired of your stupidity!"

"Stupid? Hey, you better watch your mouth, or I'm gonna punch your lights out!"

"Go on, battery boy!" Robin raised his fists, and Cyborg did the same.

"Please, _STOP_!" Starfire screamed. In a flash, she was hovering between the two fighting Titans with arms outstretched, holding them apart. The two of them stared at her dumbfounded.

The alien princess glanced first at Robin, then at Cyborg. "Please, do not fight," she pleaded. "Robin, Cyborg, we are all angry, but we are friends. We cannot be acting this way." She lowered her hands. "They are out to destroy us. They have already taken everything away from us. All we have left is each other. And as long as we have each other, there is hope. But if we cannot work together, if fight ourselves …" She paused. "Then they have already won."

Cyborg and Robin both lowered their fists, and looked at each other sadly.

"Robin, Cyborg, we are all sad over Raven and Beast Boy. But fighting amongst ourselves will not solve anything. We have to work together."

Cyborg sighed. "You're right Star. Robin, I'm s-,"

Robin raised his hand to cut him off. "Don't apologize. You're both right. I was the one being a jerk. I should be the one apologizing to you." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." He extended his hand. "Forgive me?"

Cyborg looked at him warmly, and shook his hand. "Of course, man. Let's just forget about it."

"How touching. I see the heroes are still unified," a hauntingly familiar voice came out of nowhere.

The Titans' hearts all sank. "Oh no," Cyborg moaned. The three of them turned in the direction of the voice. A tall figure emerged from the shadow of the trees. His uniform was gray and black; his mask was split into two colors.

"Slade," Robin snarled.

"Ah, I see you still remember my name," the villain said mockingly as he approached. He held some bizarre fighting staff with a blade on one end.

Robin pulled out his own fighting staff. "What do you want?"

"What's the matter, Robin? Not happy to see me?" he asked.

"Actually, thanks to you, I've been reminded that there are some things about Earth I won't miss."

Slade gave a short, sinister laugh. "I see you haven't lost your sense of humor, either. How admirable."

"Just stay away, Slade. We have enough to worry about without you."

Slade stopped and narrowed his eyes. "Well, you can relax and lower your weapons. I am not here to fight you, nor am I in any position to, as your friend Starfire so wisely pointed out." He glanced briefly at the Tamaran, who only glared back at him. "This may come as a shock to you, but I want to help you."

"Yeah, what for? What's the catch?" Cyborg asked him.

Slade turned toward him. "Is it so hard to believe that I just wish to help? Last time I checked, I lived on this planet to. These Martians have done things that even I wouldn't wish upon this world."

"Sounds rather familiar," Starfire pointed out.

"It does. I believe we've been over the same thing when Trigon took over. But I'll say it again because it's true. Or is the thought of having to work with me again too much for you?"

"I'll admit, it's not easy," Robin said sarcastically.

Slade's eyes squinted, as if he was smiling beneath his mask. "Well, then there's not much I can say, other than that I give you my word that I truly do want to help you."

"Why do you want to help us?" Cyborg asked suspiciously.

"Well, I said it already, didn't I? The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Cyborg. The invaders have done things to this planet even I wouldn't want. And just like Trigon, they don't care about who the 'good guy' is and who the 'bad guy' is on this planet. To them, we are all equally disgusting. And I am as concerned for my life as I'm sure you are concerned for yours. I want to see them defeated as much as you do. The way our present circumstances are right now, though, we really don't have much of a choice except to cooperate. So I offer you my assistance in whatever way I can."

"There's nothing you can say that we can trust," Starfire objected.

Slade's eyes narrowed. "I kept my promise the last time we worked together, didn't I?"

"He does have a point, Robin," Cyborg whispered.

Robin folded his arms. "First, tell me how you found us."

Slade laughed. "Very well, then. When the Martians first came, I was as curious as you were. I had sent out robot scouts to survey what it was. I had no way of knowing at the time whether they were hostile or not, so I thought it would be best and safest to not go myself. I must say, it's probably one of my better decisions."

Robin merely rolled his eyes.

"When they started attacking, I responded as you did. I tried to fight them. I was going to try the typical thing: robot armies, lasers, the usual. Of course, I hadn't known about their force fields yet. But my army never had a chance after the first tripod activated the EMP. I knew the situation was hopeless, so I was forced to flee on foot. But I decided to switch to another tactic. I started shadowing the tripods where they went, trying to learn what I could. Then, of course, I decided to try to find you five to see where you went. I heard reports of you being present in the city near here, so I decided to come here. And just by sheer chance, I found you here."

"Robin, are you sure we can trust him?" Starfire asked.

Slade merely sighed. "I told you everything. Now, will you accept my offer, or not?"

Robin paused as he thought it over. Finally, he looked back up at Slade. "Alright. We'll trust you for now. But if you try anything, _anything at all_…"

"I give you my word, Robin."

Cyborg and Starfire seemed uncomfortable, but neither seemed to object to Robin's decision.

"Now," Slade asked, "May I ask you something?"

"What?" Robin answered.

"I see only three here. Where are the other two?" he asked curiously.

Robin lowered his head and narrowed his eyes. "We lost them last night, a while back. We don't know where they are."

"Really? How unfortunate. And may I ask how?"

"Martian attack," Cyborg answered. "We got caught up in a fight, and ended up losing track of each other. The Martians decided to gas the place, so we had to flee."

"Hmm. That is unfortunate." Slade's voice remained emotionless.

"Yeah, I'm sure it's breaking your heart," Robin said dryly.

"Well, we can't sit here glaring at each other all day. We have to get a move on," Cyborg reminded them.

"Yeah. Maybe once we find a place, we can think about how we might fight them," Robin added.

"Yes, we must discuss that," Slade interjected.

"What, now?" Starfire asked him.

"Why not? There are no tripods around for miles. And they aren't the fastest moving things in the world. But don't worry, I just want to ask you three a few questions. Maybe we could learn from each other. Come, let's talk."

The Titans found themselves inadvertently following Slade through the sparse, open forest.

"Tell me," Slade began. "What all do you know about these invaders? Aside from the fact they came from Mars and have quite destructive weapons?"

The three of them paused for a moment. "They're very ugly," Cyborg said. Robin managed to smirk at it.

Slade didn't seem very amused. "Cute. Now, do you care to answer my question?"

"We really don't know much about the invaders, Slade. It's not as if we've had much time to study them, you know," Robin replied.

"True. But you should still think about these things. Aren't you curious about anything they do? Why they do it?"

"Well obviously, they want to destroy us. They want our planet," Robin answered.

"Then I see your brain isn't entirely wasted on you," Slade responded.

Ignoring the comment, Cyborg spoke up. "I'm a little confused about one thing – they come here, and they're supposed to be so advanced, but they move around in tripods. I mean, sure they're powerful, but you'd think they'd have an air force. And even still, they might choose something a little faster than a tripod to move in."

"Interesting observation. I have often wondered that myself. You would think they would have developed an air force similar to ours. Their job would certainly be easier. Wouldn't it?" Slade observed.

"That makes sense. So why wouldn't they?" Cyborg asked him.

"Can't you guess?"

"When Raven talked about them, she or Beast Boy might have said something about them living underground, I think," Robin suddenly remembered.

"So, what? Do you think maybe that's the reason why?" Cyborg asked.

"Well, it makes sense, doesn't it? Obviously, if they've lived underground for so long, then they wouldn't really even be able to develop any air power. They'd be stuck using the ground for travel," Robin explained.

"Hmm. I guess it does make sense."

"Good job, Robin. You are thinking," Slade mused. "Yes, these invaders may seem invincible, but even they have weaknesses. Weaknesses we may yet be able to discover. But that is why we cannot just fight, we must learn. We can learn even from our enemies."

"How are they even able to breathe in this atmosphere?" Starfire questioned.

"That is what I was curious about myself," Slade answered. "Mars really has no oxygen, so how could they breathe? Scientists have observed them so far and believe they actually breathe nitrogen. And our atmosphere is over seventy percent of it. For them, our air is quite comfortable. Of course, there's still a little left on Mars, but most of it is gone. I imagine that is one reason why they moved underground in the first place. They may have had to create their own stores of nitrogen underground."

"I can see why they want this planet. This is perfect for them," Robin muttered.

"Indeed it is. Warmth, water, air, vegetation, it is perfect for them. No doubt they are here for our planet, and don't intend to share it with us." Slade's statement was followed by an awkward, nervous silence.

"You've already seen the red weed, haven't you?" Slade continued. "You think they're planting it for our own enjoyment? They want to convert this planet. And the conversion's already begun." He pointed. Coincidentally, they all saw another patch of red vines nearby. "It grows rather quickly as well. No doubt they have other things to plant. I wonder how long it will be before we see their own native fauna running about."

The entire conversation was uncomfortable, and Robin knew he didn't want to be talking about it. He was tired, thirsty, hungry, and hot, even though it was only morning.

"Do you think they might start using nukes?" Cyborg said out of the blue.

Slade looked at him, his expression hidden behind his mask. "I've wondered that myself. I honestly could not tell you. I fail to see how it would help our situation in any way."

"But let's just say they work. Would they use them?" Robin asked.

"I do not know. But I imagine they would not, for the same reason the Martians would not use such weapons if they possessed them."

"Why?"

"What do you think? They are here for our planet. In order to wipe us out, they'd have to use them everywhere. And such an operation would ruin the planet and render it useless. A similar thing applies to us. Let's just say a nuclear device does work. Then what? Would we proceed to wipe out every single Martian on this planet with them? And then, what would we have left? A ruined, radioactive planet, hardly livable for either species. And just taken into account the amount of humans, plants, and animals that would also die as a result. Not to mention the pollution and ruined ecosystems that would result from it. No, such an option would be almost as bad as the Martians themselves. But we shall see."

Slade's words had a piercing effect. As much as Robin despised him, he did make sense sometimes. Cold, ruthless sense.

"Maybe we should rest. We've been going since yesterday morning," Cyborg said to the rest.

"The forest gets thicker along the way. The Martians most likely wouldn't come through here, and we would be hard to detect anyway. I believe we would be safe resting there for the time being," Slade advised them.

"Okay. We'll do that," Robin agreed.

The three Titans followed Slade through the forest. Robin noticed Starfire seemed a little distant. Feeling guilty about what had happened earlier, he walked behind Cyborg to be beside her.

"Hey, Starfire?" he asked her nervously.

She looked up at him. "Yes, Robin?" she asked innocently. Her big, green eyes looked into his.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier. Really, I am. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"You were stressed. It's okay."

"No, it's not okay!" Robin said, a little louder than he would liked. The other two didn't seem to notice. Regaining his composure, he continued. "It was wrong of me. You were right. We're all stressed and worried. But that's no excuse for me to take it out on you. I, I shouldn't have done that." He paused as he took a deep breath. He hoped he wasn't blushing. He lowered his head involuntarily. "So, um, I'm sorry. I hope you accept my apology." He raised his head to see the alien princess smiling sweetly at him.

"Of course I do, Robin. You are forgiven."

"Thanks. I won't do it again."

"Just forget about it. Now, would you like for me to recite the Tamaran poem of forgiveness to you?"

"Um, no thanks, Star. Maybe later."

She only smiled, and the two continued to walk beside each other. A short while later, Starfire looked over at Robin again.

"Robin, do you think they are okay?" she asked him anxiously.

He didn't have to guess whom she was talking about. He found himself struggling for an answer. He turned to meet her gaze. "I don't know, Star."

"They aren't here. If they're alive, why haven't they found us? Why are they not here?" Her face started tearing up. Without warning, she embraced Robin so tightly he thought his ribs might crack.

"Oh, Robin! We have lost so much. I cannot bear the thought of losing them! And what will happen next? I do not want to lose you, either!" She sniffed and cried into his shoulder. Her grip relaxed a little bit, allowing Robin to breathe. Once he overcame the shock, he returned her hug. Taking his hand, he cupped her chin, and raised it so her tear-covered eyes met his.

"Hey, I can't promise you that they're alive. But I can promise you one thing: that I'll always be here for you. Me and Cyborg both. You said it yourself – we're all friends here. And I'll tell you now that I'll stick by your side through everything. And if we do find a way to beat them, we'll do it together. So, don't worry about it, alright?"

Starfire managed to smile through her tears. "Thank you, Robin. I am grateful to have a wonderful friend like you." The two of them stared into each other's eyes.

"Hey guys, what are you doing back there?" Cyborg's voice snapped them back into reality. The two of them grinned at each other.

"Nothing, Cy. We're coming!" Robin shouted back. He turned to Starfire. "Let's go."

The two of them turned and ran beside each other to catch up to Cyborg and Slade. Along the way, Starfire turned her head up to the sky. Off in the distance, a ray of sunlight had pierced the clouds and was shining through.

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A couple words about this chapter. I'm sure a lot of you are anxious to know what's going on with Raven and Beast Boy. Have no fear! Originally, this was supposed to be all one chapter, but when I saw how long the first scene took, I decided to split it into two chapters: one focusing on Rob, Star, and Cy, and the other focusing on BB and Rae. Also, the scene with Beast Boy and Raven takes place later in the day, so it works out better chronologically as well. Don't worry - I'll have the next chapter posted soon! And this time, I mean it. ;) 


	9. Chapter 9: Reflections

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, the War of the Worlds, or Microsoft, come to think of it.

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**Chapter 9: Reflections**

Raven could feel herself drifting back into consciousness. As her senses came back to her, she became aware of a strong, throbbing pain in her forehead. She struggled to recall what had just happened. The last thing she could remember was yelling at Beast Boy (something she'd grown used to), then something exploding right next to her. She felt the surface she was lying on. It was warm and soft, almost like a bed.

Her eyes fluttered open. Even though her sight was blurry as her eyes struggled to focus, she could tell she wasn't outside. Light was coming in, but she couldn't tell from where. Leaning up, she propped herself up in order to get a better view of her environment. She was in what looked like a basement of some sort. She knew she hadn't come here on her own, so someone had to have brought her here. She heard a sound off to her left and turned to see Beast Boy leaning over something. The sound was of him humming a peculiar tune she hadn't heard from him before.

Noticing she was awake, he looked up at her and grinned. "Hey, sleeping beauty! I was wondering when you were gonna wake up."

Normally Raven might have responded coldly, but she was too tired for that. "Beast Boy?" was all that came out.

He stood up and approached her. "Yeah, it's me. Maybe you were thinking a Lassie dragged you in here?"

"I was hoping," she responded sarcastically. Pain surged again in her head and she winced. "Why does my head hurt?"

"Yeah, mind your head. Here, drink this," he responded. He sat down next to her and brought a bottle of water near her mouth. Noticing her parched throat, Raven took it and drank a few sips. Her thirsty tongue soaked it up greedily. "Anyway, you took a rather nasty hit last night. Some shell or something went off beside you, and you went flying into a tree headfirst. You were knocked out cold. And you got a nasty cut to go with it."

"How long was I out?" she asked, bringing her hand up to her head to feel the bandages Beast Boy had placed over the cut.

Beast Boy yawned. "I'd say a good nine hours. You took a pretty hard hit. I'm just glad you woke up at all."

She looked around again. "Where are we? What is this?"

"Just some basement in a house I found. It's pretty close to where we were last night. I came here just to get you away from the fighting last night. Things got pretty dangerous."

Her eyes perked up. "Are they still here?"

"No, they're gone, luckily for us."

Raven could sense that something wasn't right. Beast Boy was here, but where were…? "Beast Boy," she asked. "Where are the others?"

The small changeling frowned. "We…got separated. We lost each other in the fight last night."

Raven's closed her eyes and lowered her head. Beast Boy could feel her stress and immediately felt bad for her.

"Raven, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to!" he said after a brief pause. "When you got hurt, I couldn't leave you there! It was too dangerous! And then the Martians started gassing the place, and I had to get out of there so we'd live. I-I couldn't think, so I brought you here so we'd at least be safe. I'm sorry." His ears drooped in shame.

"No, it's okay, Beast Boy," he heard Raven say. Shocked, he looked up at her.

Raven almost smiled at the dumb expression of surprise on his face. "It's okay," she said again. "It's not your fault."

"Um, thanks," he said nervously.

"Do you have any idea where they might be?"

Beast Boy shook his head. "Nope, but we might be able to track them if they…made it out." A moment of uncomfortable silence passed.

"Thank you," Raven said out of the blue.

"What?" Beast Boy asked, not sure if he'd heard her right.

"Thank you, Beast Boy. For doing what you did. If it wasn't for you, I…I'd probably be dead."

Beast Boy gulped, but managed to perk up. "Hey, you're welcome. Lassie, at your service!" He winked and made a humorous salute at her. He thought he could see the faintest trace of a smile appear on her face. Nevertheless, he felt slightly dumb and turned away, blushing.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Very cute, Beast Boy," she said to him as she took another sip of water. This might have helped bring back his courage, for he turned to face her again.

"So, um, you hungry?" he asked her.

Actually, food had been the last thing on her mind. But then again, she hadn't even eaten since yesterday morning. "Um, okay," she replied.

"Great! Wait a sec." Beast Boy leapt off the couch and headed toward a small refrigerator near the corner. Raven took the time to examine the room a little more. It seemed to be mostly underground. There were a few small windows near the ceiling which let the daylight shine through. The place seemed rather dirty, but it beat sleeping outdoors. As nice as it was, though, she knew they couldn't stay in the place for long.

Beast Boy came back with a few items of food in his hands. "It's not much, but it's, uh, better than nothing." Among the items were a loaf of stale bread and an old jar of peanut butter. "Want a sandwich?" he asked her hopefully.

Raven rolled her eyes again. "Sure." Beast Boy rapidly went to work.

"Bam!"

"Cool it, Emeril," she said sarcastically.

"Here you go," Beast Boy said as he presented it to her.

"Thanks."

"No problem," he said and sat back down beside her. Raven took a small bite of it. She really didn't care for the taste, and peanut butter's stickiness could get on her nerves, but it was much better than nothing.

"I looked around while you were sleeping. There's not much, but there's food and some supplies we might be able to use. Whoever left this place left it in a hurry. We have enough to last us maybe a week, I think."

"Beast Boy," Raven said as she looked at him with concern. "We can't stay here."

"I know that! I mean, I was saying that we'd have enough for the trip in case we needed it."

"I see." She took another bite. "Aren't you going to have any?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, nah. Not hungry." He began twiddling nervously with his thumbs. "Anyway, I was thinking maybe we'd wait until tomorrow morning to head out again. That way we'd be rested up and would have all day to travel."

"Sounds like a plan. We should be very careful where we choose to travel, though. I'm hoping you maybe found a map in here somewhere?" she asked him.

"Uh, no." Beast Boy mentally kicked himself. "But there's gotta be one around here somewhere. Unless it was already taken."

Raven sighed. "Well, if we can' find one, we'll just have to find a way without it." Ever since leaving Jump City, they had relied on Cyborg's GPS to guide them. Now, they had basically no idea where they were.

"Well, uh, you should probably get some rest," Beast Boy said. "That cut still looks pretty nasty."

"I'm fine right now," Raven replied. She noticed Beast Boy looking down blankly at the ground. There was no lie in his eyes; something was bothering him.

"Beast Boy," she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Huh?" the little changeling perked his ears. "Nothing."

"Beast Boy, you're a terrible liar. What's on your mind?" She already pretty much knew what it was. She was just hoping to get him to open up. Kind of ironic, because usually he was the one trying to get her to talk. Then again, nothing had really been the way it was lately.

Beast Boy sighed and frowned. He didn't know where to begin. "A lot of things, Rae. Pretty much everything that's happened in the last few days pretty much sums it up."

Sadness crept upon Raven's face as well. "I know, Beast Boy. Believe me, I know." She winced. "This entire invasion has gotten to everyone. It's caught us off guard and nobody's even had time to take a breath since. And I don't think they intend to let us rest."

"It shouldn't happen this way! It can't! It just isn't right!" Beast Boy blurted out. "They just land here and start killing everything? What kind of race would do something like that?"

"I think they're desperate," she hypothesized. "Years of living on a dying planet have hardened their hearts. Now, they seek to ensure the survival of their own race at any means necessary. Even if it means removing us."

Beast Boy gulped. She continued, "They don't view us any better than we might view insects. That's what we are to them. An infestation that needs to be crushed. To them, living together is not an option. It's either our race, or theirs. I guess if you want to say it, this planet's not big enough for both of us."

Beast Boy pressed his hand against his head and winced. "Oh man. You know, Rae, I still can't believe this is happening. Ever since the day they landed I've been hoping this is all a dream; that I'll wake up back at Titan's Tower, and everything will be back to normal. But then I wake up, and have to face that it's all real."

"If only all our bad experience were just bad dreams," Raven reflected. "But this is reality, and this is the now. So we have to deal with it."

"There's gotta be some way to beat them!" Beast Boy said anxiously. "They've gotta have a weakness! Nothing's invulnerable."

Raven crossed her arms. "It's not a question of if they have a weakness, but if we can figure out what it is before it's too late."

"I guess so." Beast Boy slumped back. "Boy, I wish none of this had happened! I wish this whole stupid war had never started in the first place!"

Raven shook her head. "This isn't a war, Beast Boy. It never was a war. Any more than there was ever a war between men and ants. This…" she paused. "…is an extermination."

"Raven, don't say that!"

"What else can we call it, Beast Boy? Which side has been doing all the killing? What is their goal – to conquer us, or to remove us from the face of the earth?"

Beast Boy's reply got caught in his throat. All that came out was a sad groan, and he lowered his head.

"We were ripe for the picking, I think. The Martians knew humanity's biggest weakness: disunity. We spend so much time fighting ourselves, and then an outside force comes to destroy us all. And nobody seems to be able to stand against it."

"But this can't be the end!" Beast Boy objected. "You said it yourself, Raven! Remember? That there are no endings, just new beginnings!"

Raven didn't reply. Her sad expression only grew deeper.

"Raven?" Beast Boy asked.

"And if we don't win…it will be the beginning of _their_ world."

Suddenly, Beast Boy felt so small and helpless. He couldn't stand to think about it. But could it be true? Could this really be…the end? No. He pushed that thought out of his mind instantly. He wouldn't accept it.

Raven couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She could tell how he felt; how scared and helpless he felt. A part of her just wanted to go over there and comfort him as much as she could. But another part of her was afraid to.

"_Stupid conflicting emotions,"_ she thought to herself. A part of herself was also afraid to show how scared she was, too. There were times when Raven hated having to be the brave one.

Putting her ego aside for a moment, she placed a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. He looked at her shocked. Raven could tell that tears had just started to gather in his eyes. "Hey," she said. "Whether they win or not, we'll get through this somehow." She couldn't believe what she was saying. But having a fool's hope was better than having none. "So don't be scared."

Beast Boy smiled through his sadness. "I'm not scared. I'm with you, Raven."

_That_ caught her off guard. She just didn't know what to say. She hoped to god she wasn't blushing. "Beast Boy…?"

"Hey, I'm not joking!" he said meekly. "I'm serious, Rae."

"No, I didn't mean…I mean, you, um," god, she was stuttering. She hated that. "I mean, thanks." Truth be told, she had always been under the impression Beast Boy didn't like her. Looking back, she wasn't sure she could blame him, giving how she'd treated him sometimes in the past.

"Raven, I don't know how to tell you this, but…" What could he tell her? Could he admit his feelings right then and there? "Raven, I know we haven't always…gotten along in the past. But I just wanted to tell you that I've always considered you like a big sister to me. The sister I never had. And I guess I just feel safer when I'm with you."

Raven found herself avoiding Beast Boy's eyes. This conversation was starting to go places she had never intended. Emotions started to surface within her that she struggled to control. She struggled to remain calm and dignified despite the situation she was in. She wanted to answer but her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat. God, how she hoped she wasn't blushing.

"I know we're not much alike, Rae," Beast Boy continued. "But you know, there are a lot of things about you I admire. I wish I were more like you."

"What?" Raven answered at last, turning back to meet Beast Boy's eyes.

"Really! I mean, come on, Raven! You think I like always being looked at as the comic relief?"

Raven arched an eyebrow.

"Uh, don't answer that. But there are things about you I wish I had, too." He shrugged. "I mean, you're smart, you're brave, you're calm, you don't get all panicky whenever something bad happens, and the other guys look to you a lot for answers. Me? I'm none of those. Look at me, I get scared all the time, I tend to get freaked out, and I'm sure there have been a lot of times when the other guys have doubted my intelligence."

Raven shook her head and sighed. "That's ironic."

"Ironic? How?"

"Well, I'm sure you'll find this hard to believe, but there are times when I wish I were more like you."

"Huh?" Beast Boy was perplexed, for certain.

Raven wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to say anything that might be interpreted the wrong way... "Think about it, Beast Boy. You're so laid back, you're open, you aren't afraid to show what you're feeling, whether you're tired, scared, happy, or just _hungry_." She smiled faintly. "And you're not afraid to be silly or to hang around with others, and they're not afraid to hang out with you. Do you think it's easy keeping everyone around you at arm's length? Even your friends? To be counted on to be brave and smart in every single situation, as if you knew all the answers?" She sighed. "It gets kind of old after a while. And in case you didn't notice, there are plenty of things I'm afraid of."

"But Rae, you're one of the bravest people I've ever met! I mean, it's like you never get afraid."

Raven waved in hand in rebuttal. "Beast Boy, being brave doesn't mean you don't get afraid. It means being scared to do something, but going ahead anyway. And believe me, I've seen you do it plenty of times. You may not believe it, but you're one of the bravest people I've ever met."

Beast Boy's green cheeks were now flushed with a shade of pink. "Uh, thanks," he said while scratching his head nervously. "Really, thanks."

"No problem. Just don't let it go to your head." This time, they both laughed.

"And Raven," Beast Boy said. "As I said, I know we don't always get along, but, I just want to tell you, I do like you. As a friend, I mean."

This time, Raven was sure she was blushing she turned away again. She had no idea what to say. But she didn't have to answer, as Beast Boy let out a loud yawn.

"You seem tired," she said to him. "I thought you slept."

"I did, for a little bit," he answered. "But only a couple hours. I spent the rest of the time watching you. I mean, standing guard. I mean, keeping watch." He turned his face to hide his embarrassment.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Well, why don't you get some sleep, okay? You won't get very far tomorrow if you're too tired."

Beast Boy faced her. "But, will you-"

"Beast Boy, I'm _fine_," she said sharply. Almost on cue, pain shot through the cut on her head and she winced. If Beast Boy found it funny, he was doing a good job of hiding it. "I'm fine enough to watch, okay?" she said a little more softly. "You just get some rest."

Beast Boy yawned again and nodded. "Okay. Good night, Rae." Ironic, since it was broad daylight out. Raven was pretty sure it was about noon. Beast Boy laid back and closed his eyes. Within only a few moments, he drifted off to sleep and his animal-like snores started to fill the room.

Raven breathed a sigh of relief. She was just glad the conversation was done. She thought about her reaction and mentally scolded herself for acting like a silly shy schoolgirl the entire time. She couldn't understand why she had behaved that way. Sure, Beast Boy was her friend, but she didn't expect to behave like _that_. But there was no denying that certain feelings arose whenever she and Beast Boy were together. The fact they were alone seemed to make those feelings even stronger.

But she didn't want to think about it. She knew she didn't have a crush on Beast Boy. Even if she did have a crush on anybody, it'd be someone less annoying and who told better jokes. Nevertheless, she pushed those thoughts out of her head. There were more important things to think about. The earth was still being invaded, and she still didn't know where the others were. She briefly wondered if they had been looking for her and Beast Boy. A small chance, since most likely they'd have to continue moving on. Once again, she sighed and lay back on the couch as well, not allowing herself to sleep, and trying to ignore the pain in her head.

* * *

Later that night.

Beast Boy felt something shaking him. "Wake up," he heard a voice say. He groaned in protest. "Wake up!" the voice said more sharply. He snapped his eyes open. He looked up and saw Raven standing over him. He yawned as he sat up. He noticed that it was now noticeably darker outside.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"I don't know, but the sun set a while ago," she responded. "Where'd you put the medical kit?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's over there," he pointed to a place by the basement stairs. Raven drifted over to the spot. Beast Boy stretched. As he did, he noticed a rumbling in his stomach. The changeling noticed his hunger for the first time. Now he was wishing he had eaten something earlier when he had the chance.

"Can you find it? It should be right over there," he said to Raven. He wasn't surprised she couldn't find it, seeing how dark it was. Suddenly, he remembered the flashlight he had found earlier. He slid off the couch and felt around the floor for it. Feeling the small cylindrical object at last, he picked it up. He was just about to switch it on when a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.

He practically yelped in shock, and turned to see Raven glaring at him. "No. We dare not strike a light," she said firmly.

"Uh, sure," he gulped. He mentally kicked himself again.

"Sorry, but it's too dangerous. We don't want to risk being seen," she said to him.

"Oh, no problem," he said, and put the flashlight down. Just then, an idea occurred to him. Within seconds, a green cat walked across the basement floor over to the small refrigerator. Cats could see well enough in the dark. Raven rolled her eyes. Being a changeling really did have benefits.

Beast Boy reverted back to human form, and decided to make a sandwich for himself. The light on the fridge was broken, so it was okay to open it.

"We should set out as early as we can tomorrow," Raven said to him from across the room. "We'll need as much daylight to travel as we can."

Beast Boy nodded and took a bite of his sandwich. It was the first food he'd had all day. He finished it quickly and went back over to the other side of the room.

"Hey Rae," Beast Boy said out of the blue. "What do you think the others are doing right now?"

Raven continued to stare out one of the small windows. She could just see the glimmer of stars in the sky. "Well, I can tell you what they aren't doing. They aren't giving up. They're going to keep on fighting, and they aren't going to forget about us, because they know we're still out here, and they haven't given up hope," she replied.

"Sounds reasonable to me," he said faintly. He stared out at the stars along with her. He just realized how close they were standing.

"Beast Boy," Raven said in the darkness. She couldn't believe she was saying this, but decided to get out with it anyway. She turned her head to face him. "I'm glad you're with me," she said to him.

Beast Boy was glad it was dark, because he was sure his cheeks were now rosy shade of pink. He looked back at met her eyes. _"God, am I staring at him?"_ Raven thought to herself.

Their trance was broken as a faint rumbling sound emerged from the silence. "What the," Raven asked. The rumbling grew louder. It sounded as if something was streaking toward them. Through the window, she could see the glare of a bright, white light filling the sky.

"Oh no," Beast Boy gasped right before a loud crash sounded. A loud, grinding sound filled the air as the gigantic cylinder scraped across the ground. The sound was getting louder. As if it was…

Raven's heart leapt into her throat. "Quick! GET DOWN!" without thinking, she tackled Beast Boy to the ground. A deafening crash sounded as the edges of the colossal cylinder collided with the house. Pieces of wood, concrete, and plaster fell from the ceiling as the walls above them collapsed. Within moments, the noise died down. Raven tried to make out the damage as best she could. Luckily, from what it looked, only a small part of the ceiling had collapsed. She knew the house above them had to have been demolished. She realized that being in the basement may very well have saved their lives.

But there was no mistaking they were now in a very bad situation. What were the odds of this happening?

"_Super_," she whispered to herself. She simply loved her luck. Remembering Beast Boy, she glanced over at him. Raven didn't think it was physically possible for eyes to get that wide. Seeing she had cupped her hand over his mouth, she took it away. Beast Boy took a deep breath.

"Shh! Be quiet" Raven cautioned him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he responded weakly. "Are we still alive?" he asked.

"Pretty sure," she responded dryly.

"Oh, god," he whispered. "Not good. Not good."

Raven squinted through the darkness. The unseen cylinder above them seemed to be still for the moment.

"Raven, do you think we should get out of here?"

Raven struggled to answer. "I,-" she began.

"What's that sound?" Beast Boy interrupted her. Raven stopped talking and listened. She could hear it, too. An all too familiar sound.

_Boom…boom…boom…_

"Another one," she said anxiously. This was not good at all. The heavy, metallic sound of the approaching tripod echoed closer and closer.

"I think we're stuck here, Beast Boy," she whispered to him.

The frightened changeling looked up. "Oh, man."

The heavy tripod's footsteps now sounded louder than ever. Raven was sure they were right next to them now. She gulped and gritted her teeth. This was it. Now, they were really on their own.

"Beast Boy," Raven whispered to him. "You with me on this?" she asked him.

He looked over at her, and his expression of fear turned into one of grim determination. "Oh yeah."

* * *

There it is. Hope you guys liked it. Normally, I update my two main stories one at a time, but I decided to get this one released earlier since it was originally going to be one chapter. As usual, please drop in a review, and thanks to all those who have been reading and contributing so far. Until next time, adios. 


	10. Chapter 10: Emergence

Okay, first I'd like to apologize for this chapter's VERY late arrival. Sorry, guys. As I am working on two fics at once, updating was kind of hard. For over a month and a half I barely worked on any stories at all, nor did I really have much time to until mid-April. I decided also to crank out two chapters of my other fic instead of one, so that delayed this chapter a little more. Thanks to all for your patience, and I hope this chapter is worth the wait. BTW, look for another scene in here inspired by the movie.

Just to avoid confusion, Rae/BB segment starts out where the last chapter left off, so the scene takes place _before_ (chronologically) the end of the Rob/Star/Cy segment at the beginning of this chapter. Confusing, I know. I know it's out of order, but I wanted to put the Rae/BB scene last. Don't know why, just gotta. And now, on with the show.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

* * *

**Chapter 10: Emergence**

Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire, all felt uncomfortable with Slade as their new ally. Robin above all felt suspicious of Slade and his motives even though Slade had sworn he would not betray or harm them. When they had finally found a place to stop and rest, he found it incredibly hard to sleep. He couldn't help but suspect Slade would take the opportunity to end their lives when they were vulnerable. He found himself frequently glancing at Slade to make sure he wasn't up to anything.

The day after they had encountered Slade in the woods, they had decided to move on again. Along the way, they noticed more and more of the red weed had begun to spring up in thick patches all over the place. Just the sight of it made all of them sick to their stomach, and Robin could sense an anger burning within Starfire every time they passed a clump of the alien plant. Even worse, wherever the red vines grew, they seemed to choke the life out of all surrounding plants, almost as if they too were on a mission to exterminate life.

"They are actually a lot like our own plants," Slade said one time as he was explaining to them. "They thrive on many of the same things our plants do. Except on mars they were able to survive on a lot less. Here, the abundance of sunlight and nutrients allows them to thrive."

Aside from the sinister red weed, they hadn't noticed any other Martian life on the planet. Robin figured that was a good sign, for now. The next day was very quiet. They were once again in countryside, and no tripods had appeared. They figured it had to do with them sticking to the more populated areas. They were at least safe for now. They hoped they could find safe refuge before the Martians started scouring the countryside. As for Raven and Beast Boy, they could only hope that they were safe as well.

Starfire, despite everything, had a feeling that Raven and Beast Boy were alive. She wanted to believe that was the case. But another, darker feeling told her that they if they were alive, they weren't safe. She hoped_ that_ wasn't true.

"Do we have any idea where we're going?" Robin asked aloud to the group as they walked. It occurred to him they had been walking with no real plan as to where they were headed.

"There is a mountain to our northeast," replied. "There we might be able to find better cover. Until then, we should stick to the forest."

"And if the mountains don't work?" Robin asked dryly.

"Then let us hope the Martians skip over it," Slade replied.

The group kept going. Around them, tired-looking refugees trudged along. Robin could see the loss of hope in their eyes. It hurt him deeply inside.

After some time, Cyborg spoke up. "Hey Slade, I have a question about those Martians."

"Could we not talk about the Martians?" Robin said sourly.

"Oh okay, I won't, Robin. Let's just talk about last episode of 'Lost.' Is that better?"

"Calm down you two," Slade snapped with authority in his voice.

The two complied. Cyborg continued, "How do they communicate with each other, anyway? I mean, all I heard out of them were squeaks and hisses. I mean, you'd think they'd speak in some kind of language."

"Language?" Slade asked with amusement. "A language doesn't have to be what we make it out to be. What works for us might not work for other species. But I see your point. Hisses and squeaks don't really seem characteristic of a race as advanced as theirs." He paused. "I remember before most of the TV networks had gone off the air, they were talking about the creatures' anatomy. Scientists, with the little evidence they have, guess that they may be complimenting their oral communication with telepathy."

"You mean, they communicate with their minds?" Robin asked.

"Yes. The aliens might have psychic potential that we humans don't."

"That may explain how Raven was able to understand what they were thinking when they first landed!" Starfire exclaimed.

"Yes. I think it might."

A loud screech overhead broke the silence. Everyone on the ground snapped their heads to the sky to see what was happening. High overhead was a formation of fighter jets flying toward the horizon.

"Good luck," Cyborg said as if the pilots overhead could hear him.

"I think we'd better get a move on, guys," Robin urged them. No one argued.

A little while later, they decided to stop and take a rest. It was about noon according to Cyborg. Slade wanted to keep going, but the other three were still tired. They had all been through a lot in the past few days. As Starfire slumped against a tree, her ears picked up the sound of rushing water. It sounded like a river was nearby. She then noticed how hot it was and how thirsty she had become.

"Sounds like there's a stream nearby," Robin observed, noticing the sound himself.

Starfire rose to her knees. "I'll be right back."

"Okay. Don't go too far off, Star," Robin cautioned as she walked off.

Starfire followed the sound of running water and soon enough came to a wide stream. The water looked so appealing right now. She walked up to the shore and stooped down. Cupping her hands, she dipped them under the rushing water and splashed some of it on her face. The effect felt so refreshing, she smiled. She took some more water in her hands and took a sip, and her dry mouth greedily soaked it up. She drank a little more and stood up. For a moment, she simply stared at the stream and admired its beauty, forgetting for a moment about the invasion and the Martians.

She stared for a few moments before something in the water caught her eye. Upon first glance it looked like a log floating downstream. As Starfire focused, she noticed the log had arms and legs. She gasped as she finally realized what it was – a corpse. She couldn't turn away, as much as she tried. Her eyes remained fixed on the dead body as it floated down the stream like a raft.

Just when it had passed, Starfire saw another one floating down the river. Then another. Then another. Then another. Her fear mounted as the floating horrors drifted across the river. She tried to scream, but it got caught in her throat. She could only stand there, paralyzed. Her breath quickened frantically. Just when she was about to scream, a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders from behind. She was spun around and beheld Robin, wearing an expression of grave concern. Tears in her eyes, Starfire collapsed in his arms and sobbed. Robin in response wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"Shh. Shh. It's okay," Robin whispered. He embraced her tightly, wanting to console her as much as he could. He had just walked down to talk to her and found her staring at the floating bodies.

After a few minutes of her crying into his shoulders, Robin gently led her away from the stream. He led her back to where Cyborg and Slade were. He sat her down next to a tree and sat down beside her.

"Is she alright? What happened?" Cyborg asked with worry.

"She saw some bodies. It's okay. Just give her a minute."

A few minutes later, her sobbing finally stopped. "Are you okay?" Robin asked her. She nodded weakly. Starfire drew a deep breath and sighed. It wouldn't have been the first time she had seen a body, but just the sight of them now pushed her stress over the limit.

Slade stooped down beside her. Robin was tempted to tell him to get lost, but stopped when he saw Slade taking something out of his suit.

"Here. Take this." He held a small, white pill up to her face. "You'll feel better."

"What is that?" Robin asked angrily.

Slade eyed him. "I gave you my word, Robin. Are you going to trust me, or not?"

Robin paused. Actually, he still didn't trust Slade. He had had far too much experience with this man's duplicity. Nevertheless, after a moment he nodded. Slade then took the pill and dropped it in Starfire's mouth, and she swallowed it. Starfire's eyes closed and she leaned against the tree trunk. As Slade walked away, Robin followed him.

"What was that?" he asked him.

"That? Just a little stress reliever. I figured having an emotionally-scarred companion wouldn't help us much. I developed that formula awhile back. It really is ingenious, I think. It has the characteristics of a mild antidepressant, but without any druggy side effects! I should really put it on the market. It's too bad I'm a psychotic criminal, otherwise they might let me get a patent on it."

Robin actually cracked a smile. Slade's eyes remained grave, however. "We should keep moving soon. If we can, we should try traveling by night. We'll be harder to spot that way.

"Right. Let's just give the others a chance to rest, though. These past few days have been pretty exhausting."

"Tell me, Robin," Slade said turning to him. "Did you or Starfire happen to notice anything peculiar about the bodies?"

"Um, not really. I didn't really stop to examine them, Slade," he added sarcastically.

"Funny. I only asked because I happened to come across some bodies a tripod had dropped awhile back. I found something very peculiar about them. But tell me Robin, did you ever happen to see these aliens collecting humans?"

"Yeah, I did. It happened the last time we ran into them, as a matter of fact. Why?"

"And did you ever stop to think what the aliens might want with humans?"

"I have some ideas." His gaze fell downward. "But no."

"Ah, well I did. Tell me, Robin, do you know how mosquitoes eat?"

* * *

The heavy sounds from the tripod's movements filled the air. It was really dark, but a strange green light poured in through the small windows in the basement.

"Are you okay?" Raven asked the small shape-shifter. Beast Boy nodded weakly. Both of them got up and went to the window. They couldn't see much, but they could see the massive legs of the tripod standing outside the house. Right on top of them, a weird thumping sound emanated from the cylinder that had crashed into the house just moments earlier. The loud 'foghorn' sound blasted from the tripod without warning. Raven and Beast Boy winced and covered their ears.

"What are they doing?" Beast Boy asked.

"I don't know! It looks like it's guarding the cylinder." Raven continued to stare wide-eyed at the spectacle taking place. The tripod's legs shifted. In a flash the bright spotlight came on and shone on the ground outside. The light moved up and toward the house and headed toward the window from which the two heroes were looking out of.

"Down!" Raven whispered sharply. They both ducked just before the light passed over the window. For a moment the light streamed in through the window and illuminated the basement. A second later, they were in darkness again.

Beast Boy took a deep breath and looked above. That strange "thumping" sound was still coming from the cylinder above them. Outside, he could hear metal grinding as the tripod outside moved around the house.

"We'd better get away from this window," Raven advised. Beast Boy agreed, and the two scuttled over to a dark corner out of sight. At the other end of the basement, part of the ceiling had collapsed from when the cylinder crashed into the house.

"Rae, what are we gonna do?" Beast Boy asked frantically. "Should we try to escape?"

"I," Raven tried to think. With all the noise it was hard to concentrate. She went over their options. They could try to escape now, while it was still dark out. If the Martians couldn't spot them, they might be able to get away. The only problem would be what would happen afterward. Where would they go? They had no idea where they were now, and in the dark they wouldn't have much of an idea where they were going. And they wouldn't be able to take much with them. They wouldn't be able to last for very long. Worse, if the Martians _did_ see them, they were as good as dead.

Or they could stay and wait for the Martians to leave. Raven didn't think they'd stay around for very long in this location. Once they left, it would be much safer to head out. It would also give them at least more time to plan where they would go. But what if the Martians didn't leave? What if they did find them here? If they did, they were also as good as dead. Raven sighed on the inside. Neither option was very appealing. She _hated_ having to be the one to think.

"Raven?"

"_I don't know_!" Raven snapped at him unexpectedly. Beast Boy was slightly taken aback and withdrew. Realizing what she had done, Raven focused and tried to keep her temper under control. "Sorry," she said. "There's one out there right now. We have maybe just a couple hours until the one in the cylinder comes out."

"Do you think we should make a run for it?" Beast Boy asked again.

Raven thought it over again. "No," she said after a moment. It was too risky. At least by waiting, they had a better chance of survival. Waiting there was risky too, but she figured it was a better alternative. "We should stay here. If they see us, we're dead. We should wait until they leave."

Beast Boy looked at her and then at the window on the other wall. "Okay. I'm right behind you, Rae."

"Thanks. That's very comforting."

Beast Boy laughed, despite the situation. He looked around again. The tripod's searchlight was still flitting around outside. His eyes started closing unexpectedly. Beat Boy forced them open. Lying against the wall had let his exhaustion creep up on him. He had gotten some sleep, but he was still tired.

And Raven could sense it, too. She felt sorry for him, despite herself. He had been through so much and risked his own life to get her to safety. She nudged him to get his attention.

"Beast Boy, why don't you get some rest? I'll keep watch."

"I'm fine," he protested.

"You're not fooling anyone. Just get some sleep."

"But Rae, what about you?"

"I'll be fine. I had enough already." She winced again as pain shot through the wound in her forehead. "I'll keep watch." Beast Boy's eyes had already started to droop by the time she finished her sentence. He slumped against the wall and within mere moments was asleep. He looked so cute like that. Raven sighed and looked away.

"_You can't keep me down forever, Raven,"_ a small voice whispered from inside her. She had heard that unmistakable voice before. It was love.

* * *

When Beast Boy woke up, it was still dark. Raven was standing up now, looking above at the ceiling. The shape shifter yawned and stretched. Outside he could still here the tripod and the sounds coming from the cylinder above him.

"What's up, Rae?" he whispered.

She looked down at him, her hood almost concealing her gaze. "It's been awhile. It could happen at any second."

"What could happen?"

Right after he finished his sentence, everything stopped. The noise from outside and above ceased. An eerie silence hung over the place. Beast Boy didn't like it at all.

"Raven?"

Without warning a loud blast echoed from above them. The ground started trembling and a grinding sound came from the cylinder above them. A loud crash sounded. It didn't take long for Beast Boy to figure out what was going on – the second tripod was breaking out of its cylinder. Another crash sounded as another leg broke free of the cylinder.

Beast Boy backed against the wall. He only hoped the ceiling wouldn't collapse. Raven came to his side. The heavy whirring from the massive machine echoed through the ceiling. Sounds of objects falling down pierced the walls; probably pieces of the cylinder falling down. Raven braced herself, hoping it wouldn't bring its massive foot through the ceiling. Its massive footsteps echoed. Luckily for them, it didn't bring the ceiling down. Raven and Beast Boy waited for what seemed like ages for the tripods to leave. Instead, the two massive tripods lingered around the house, their heavy footsteps reverberating through the walls. A loud humming sound also added to the noise.

"What are they doing? Why won't they go away?" Beast Boy asked desperately.

Raven didn't answer, but got up to go to the window. She stood up to it and took a peak outside. The two tripods were standing next to each other and facing toward the same spot. The loud humming sound came from their lasers which they were firing at the ground. Raven couldn't tell what they were doing or what they were firing at. Not wanting to risk being seen, she backed away from it. Before she left, she grabbed a wooden plank and placed it in front of the window.

"What did you see?" Beast Boy asked as she came back.

Raven shrugged. "I have no idea what they're doing. It looks like they're shooting at nothing out there." She sat down.

Beast Boy's thoughts drifted to his friends again. He hoped they were safe. He hoped they were _alive_. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Beast Boy glanced up to see Raven standing over him, and to his surprise, she was smiling.

"I think they're okay, Beast Boy."

Beast Boy was going to ask how she knew what he was thinking about, but then remembered she was telepathic. "Do you think we'll make it through this, Raven?" he asked. He stared at her with those innocent puppy-dog eyes.

She paused. A moment of doubt came over her, but it vanished. She looked at Beast Boy with confidence. "I know we will, Beast Boy. I know we will."

* * *

The ending sucks, I know. But I didn't want to go on to the next scene with them or else the chapter would be _too_ long. As a side note, I had debated whether or not to put the river scene into the Rob/Star/Cy part, as I was worried the scene might be a little _too_ dark. Then again, the whole story is dark, so I think it fits nicely. Anyway, be sure to drop a review in. Thanks for reading! Adios. 


	11. Chapter 11: Close Calls

Here's the next chapter! And just so there's no more confusion, everything in this chapter is in chronological order.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

* * *

**Chapter 11: Close Calls**

Beast Boy and Raven stayed up to see if the tripods would leave, but they remained. After another couple hours Raven decided to get some sleep, this time with Beast Boy standing guard.

When Raven awoke, it was morning. The sun had only risen maybe a couple hours ago, by what she could tell. The incessant noise created by the huge tripods still came from outside.

"I don't get it! It's like they've decided to make camp here or something," Beast Boy said from the other end of the wall. He was standing on top of a box and peering out the window. Raven was about to say something in response when something caught her eye. She looked at the edges of the window next to her and saw that it now had a red tint. Upon closer examination she saw traces of red roots seeping through the cracks at the window's edges. She grabbed one of the roots and snapped it off. It felt moist and slightly rubbery. The liquid rubbed off and left red blotches on her hands.

"RAE! Rae! Rae!" She heard Beast Boy calling from the other side and rushed over to see what was the matter.

"Beast Boy, keep it down! They might hear you!" she hissed. Beast Boy turned toward her, and she saw traces of a reddish mist on his face. Beast Boy didn't seem to notice, but instead was pointing toward the window. Raven edged him away and peered out the window, making sure first that she wouldn't be seen. Outside, one of the tripods was pacing around. She could see it spraying a red liquid toward the ground through an opening vent in its backside.

"They're seeding," Raven whispered. She looked around and saw patches of the red vines growing outside. She was shocked to see how much it had grown in a matter of hours. She had seen few species of plant that grew as fast as this did.

Beast Boy put a hand to his face to wipe the moisture off. After seeing the mist's red color he frantically wiped the rest of it off. Raven backed away from the window and sat down on the couch, and Beast Boy decided to do the same.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked her.

"What else can we do? We wait. Unless you think we have a chance of escaping detection in broad daylight."

"No thanks," he replied. "How's your head?"

Raven felt the bandages wrapped around her forehead. "It still stings a little. But it's feeling a little better."

"Great! I'm glad that cut's all you got. You took a pretty hard hit."

"No argument here," she said. "Thanks again, Beast Boy."

The shape-shifter blushed. "No problem." Despite the situation, his crush was starting to take hold of him again. There was no use in denying it, he knew he had huge crush on her. He tried to keep his nervousness under control, not wanting to do something stupid. Beast Boy didn't want to ruin it; especially since this was the longest time he and Raven had been together without her wanting to kill him.

Outside, the loud footsteps of the colossal machines continued. Raven and Beast Boy waited for hours, but the machines did not leave. Next thing they knew, it was noon. Raven periodically took a peek out the windows to see what was going on. Outside, the machines appeared to have stopped spraying, but they continued to pace around like gigantic guardians.

When Raven went to sit back down she noticed Beast Boy was sitting and staring at the ground. He appeared to be buried deep in thought. Something that was unusual for him.

"Beast Boy? What's the matter?" she asked him.

He snapped out of his repose and glanced up at her. "Oh, nothin'."

"What are you thinking about?"

Was this a trick question? Beast Boy thought she would have known anyway. She was a mage, after all. Nevertheless, he decided to answer her anyway. "About the invaders, big surprise. I just couldn't help thinking about what would happen if they won. What would happen to us and everyone else?"

Raven sat down beside him. "Can't say I blame you. I wonder a lot, too."

"Yeah. Even though I don't think I should. I mean, we should try thinking about how we can beat them."

"Believe me, I think everyone's tried. I don't think it's gotten us very far, though," she added.

"Tell me about it. I hate to say it but the whole fight has been pretty one-sided so far."

"I know. Sucks, doesn't it?" she said dryly.

Beast Boy chuckled out loud. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was just because he wasn't used to hearing Raven talk like that. "I know," he continued. "I'm just worried what might happen if we're caught. I just hope they don't try to turn me into one of their pets! Like if they keep me around just to do tricks, like that one other alien did." He shuddered.

Raven giggled. "I would worry more about being roasted alive."

"That too." He leaned back. "Poor Cyborg. They might use him for spare parts if he gets caught."

Raven laughed again. She stopped suddenly. Beast Boy paused, too. The shape-shifter's ears perked up. They both just noticed that it had gone quiet. The machines had stopped.

"What happened?" Beast Boy whispered. "Why did they stop?"

Raven edged near the window. She pushed away the wooden plank blocking it and peered outside, but couldn't see anything.

"Are they gone?" Beast Boy asked quietly. Raven shook her head. She could sense they were still there.

Beast Boy heard something stir. He looked around to see where the sound was coming from. He heard it again. His ears instinctively locked on to the sound. He gulped. It was coming from the hole in the ceiling from when it partially collapsed. The noise continued, and it sounded like something pushing objects out of the way.

Raven had already reacted. The mage ducked behind some large crates near the wall and beckoned for Beast Boy to join her. The changeling saw and quickly dashed over to join her. The two hid behind the crates, but their eyes remained fixed on the hole in the ceiling. Another moment passed, and the two saw something slither out of the opening.

It was long and tubular. To beast Boy it almost looked like a tentacle. On the end, however, it had something attached to it. The end almost resembled a closed eyelid. The two heroes watched as the eye-like device opened, revealing a large dark lens. Two small lights flickered to life on either side. By now, the two Titans realized it was a camera and ducked down behind the crates.

Beast Boy listened as hard as he could. A soft electrical hum emanated from the device. He could hear the camera slowly approaching their hiding place. He was about to panic when an idea occurred to him. Raven glanced over and saw that Beast Boy was gone. In his place was a small green spider. She watched as it scuttled out from behind the crates.

The spider-Beast Boy observed the camera's movements. The device snaked along the wall, picking up everything with its large eye. It would periodically stop to look behind an object or examine something more closely. The electronic lens swiveled and focused…right on Beast Boy. The spider-teenager panicked and quickly scuttled back behind the crates and mutated back to his original form. Raven saw his panicked expression and could tell what was happening. She beckoned for Beast Boy to follow her. After taking a quick peek around the crates, she saw the device approaching them from the other side. In a mad dash, the two of them ran out and ducked behind the dusty couch nearby. Beast Boy pressed his hands together in a praying motion, hoping they hadn't been seen.

Raven took another look and saw the camera looking at where the two of them had been hiding seconds before. The mage ducked back down and pressed her back to the couch. She focused with all her might to keep her emotions under control. It wasn't working too well. Her heart was pounding, and she could feel sweat gathering on her forehead. She glanced at Beast Boy and saw that he was sweating as well.

A thousand emotions ran through Raven: fear, anger, desperation… She clenched her fists. If they were spotted down, they were as good as dead. This wasn't fair. They couldn't go out like this. She looked over at Beast Boy again and an idea came to her. He could escape. All he had to do was change into something that could avoid detection – a fly, a spider, or even a mouse. The aliens wouldn't notice it.

"Beast Boy," she whispered. He looked over at her; the fear in his eyes was plain. "Get out of here. Escape while you can."

"Raven, I'm not leaving you," he whispered back.

"Don't worry about me. Just save yourself while you have the chance."

"I'm not leaving you!" he whispered back harshly. He stopped abruptly and hoped the device hadn't heard him. He thought of another idea. "Hold on, Rae," he whispered. He mutated into a mouse and crawled out into the open. He looked and saw the camera had moved to a corner of the basement. It was looking inside a box that was holding what looked like a bunch of random gardening equipment. He scuttled over to the corner on the opposite end of the room.

He quickly shifted back to human form. The camera was distracted, but it would be on Raven soon. He noticed there was a shelf case next to the stairs with a bunch of boxes stored on it. It should be just enough to hide behind… He grabbed a nearby piece of plaster and chucked it over at the other end of the room. It clattered against the wall and the noise prompted the camera to rush over to investigate the source of the noise. Beast Boy motioned with his hand for Raven to come. With the device momentarily distracted, she dashed silently over to where he was, and the two hid behind the case.

Over at the other side of the room, the device lifted its head and snaked its way to the couch. Raven and Beast Boy observed it examine every inch of the room. Their hiding spot was very dusty. Beast Boy drew a breath and some of the dust shot up his nose, agitating it. In an instant, a sneeze rushed through him before he could stop it.

"Ah-" he started. He cupped his hands over his mouth to muffle the noise. But it was too late.

On the other end of the room, the camera's head jerked up and turned to face where the noise had come from. The device spotted the case and snaked its way towards it.

Beast Boy panicked. Raven was caught between a desire to strike him and thinking of a way out of their situation. Her mind raced. The camera moved closer. Its eye focused on the case. It couldn't see past the boxes that were stacked on the shelves, so it slithered around to see what was behind. Its electronic eye came around the other side to see what was behind it…

And saw nothing but floorboards. The camera reared its head as if it were confused. The device remained in the spot and looked around. When it saw nothing back there, it withdrew. Its spotlights switched off and its lens slid shut, and in a few seconds the room was empty once again.

Meanwhile, a black orb was fixed to the basement's ceiling above the case. The orb's black walls disappeared to reveal Raven and a wide-eyed Beast Boy stuck to the ceiling. The pair drifted down; Raven using her powers to prevent them from falling. Once he was on the ground, Beast Boy breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Man, I thought that thing would never leave!" he whispered. Raven had used her powers to move them to the ceiling so the device wouldn't spot them. Fortunately for them, it had looked everywhere but up.

Raven rolled her eyes and rubbed the sweat off her forehead. "Just control your sneezes next time. You almost got us killed," she said sharply.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized. He looked down in embarrassment, even though it really wasn't his fault he sneezed. He perked his ears to listen. The air was still quiet. The machines hadn't started up again. As he listened closer though, his ears picked up something else. It sounded like the sound of many feet walking around outside. The footsteps didn't sound human or normal animal footsteps, so Beast Boy figured the aliens were walking around outside. But why?

"Beast Boy!" Raven called. "They're coming again!"

The shape-shifter could hear the footsteps approaching the house. His eyes picked up a small cupboard under the stairs. "Under there!" he pointed. The two of them ducked inside and shut the door. Luckily for them, it was empty. Seconds afterward, they heard rubble being moved away and footsteps coming down. Raven leaned over and looked through a small crack in the door.

Outside, she could see the gnarled form of a Martian climbing down into the room. It was just as hideous as she remembered – four legs, solid black eyes, a fan-shaped head, and a sickly grayish exoskeleton. The Martian looked around and sniffed the air. Its two large arms felt at objects around it while its two small arms remained folded next to its body like a praying mantis. A loud squeak came out of its mouth, and on signal two more Martians climbed down to join it.

The three of them crawled around the basement, looking and feeling at objects as they went. One of them picked up a small, dusty photograph with its large hands and transferred it to its small hands. Another one was feeling a broom that was hanging up on the wall. It let out a surprised squeak when the broom fell off its hook. The third was examining the refrigerator. With its large hands it opened the door and blinked in surprise when a whiff of cold air hit it. With its small hands it grabbed an old jar of mustard, sniffed it, and handed it to the one standing next to it.

The one that had been looking at the broom crawled over toward the stairs. It stopped and looked down at something on the floor. Raven squinted through the hole to catch a glimpse of what it was. Beside her, Beast Boy was crouched against the corner, trying to be as still and quiet as possible. Raven struggled to focus again. The Martian lifted its head and sniffed the air. For whatever reason, it looked to its left right in Raven's direction. As soon as it did it stopped and a "puzzled" look came over it.

Raven gulped and her heart started beating rapidly. She moved away from the eyehole in an instant. Beast Boy noticed this. "What's wrong?" he whispered. "Did they-"

Raven lifted a finger to silence him. Beast Boy soon figured out what was happening when he heard the Martian's footsteps approaching the cupboard. Sweat gathered on his forehead. He heard the Martian give a loud hiss from outside the cramped cupboard. The other two rushed over to join it. Beast Boy could hear the footfalls approach the cupboard door. They were right outside. Something, maybe a hand, was scraping against the door.

Beast Boy felt like crying. This couldn't be it. He couldn't go out like this… "I'm not ready," he thought.

Raven was caught between rage and desperation. This could be it. Maybe if they fought them they might have a chance at escape. If not…

The door handle rattled. The two of them remained fixed on it, unaware of the fact that they were both gripping each other. It rattled again, and the two of them braced themselves for a fight. And then…

VRRRRUUUUMMMMM! One of the tripods sounded its deafening blast from outside. Raven and Beast Boy heard a hiss and a scatter of feet as the Martians vacated the scene and climbed up and out of the room. Then, the room went silent again.

After a few moments, Raven and Beast Boy both breathed a huge sigh. They looked at each other and blushed when they realized they had been holding each other. Feeling awkward, they both let go and Raven turned away to hide her blush. Beast Boy said nothing, and after a moment of hesitation, opened the door. They both stepped out into the empty basement.

Beast Boy collapsed on the ground in relief and sighed again. "I think that's enough close calls for me."

"Tell me about it." Raven sat down and wiped her forehead. The bandages around her wound were starting to come loose. She would have to replace it soon.

"Why did they leave?" Beast Boy asked from the floor.

Raven shrugged. "I don't know." She thought back to when she heard the blast. She had briefly felt what the Martians were feeling. From what she remembered, it was a light feeling, almost an _excited_ feeling. But why?

"Raven?" she heard Beast Boy ask.

"Oh god," she thought. "Please don't ask about that hug. Please.." she started blushing again.

"Never mind," he said. Raven let out another relieved sigh and turned away so she wouldn't be facing him. A good thing, too, because then she didn't see Beast Boy give a satisfied "Yes!" behind her back.

A few minutes later, the ground started shaking again. They could hear gigantic footsteps approaching the house. It didn't take long for them to realize a third tripod was coming.

Beast Boy shook his head. "Now what?" After a moment, the colossal machine stopped next to the house. Once again, Beast Boy looked out to see what was going on. He could hear something coming from the tripod that had just arrived. As his ears focused, he finally made out what the noise was. Voices!

"Raven! Oh god, there are people on that tripod!"

* * *

It was a few hours after noon, now. All three Titans felt absolutely miserable. Neither Robin, nor Starfire, nor Cyborg had anything at all to eat that day, and the heat was maddening. The mosquitoes' newfound attraction for them didn't help things in the least. It was cloudless for now, and the Titans were all sure they'd be sunburned by tomorrow. Only Slade said nothing the entire time. 

"Those mountains shouldn't be too much further now," Cyborg said as they climbed up a steep hill. Once Cyborg reached the top of the hill, he at last saw the mountain peaks rising in the distance. "Awesome! There they are, guys!"

Robin sighed in relief. He thought they'd _never_ reach those peaks. The four of them and the rest of the people they had been traveling with set out for them.

They had made it about halfway there when they started hearing some commotion. Robin looked up and to his surprise saw a mass of military helicopters flying over head toward the mountains.

"What the-" he started. He looked down and could make out a mass of military vehicles moving in formation along the mountain's side. Fearing the worst, Robin waved for everyone to follow him. The three Titans and Slade ran for the convoy, hoping to reach them before they had left. One of them had seen them too, however, and a jeep left the convoy and headed for them.

Once it reached them it stopped beside them. A gruff looking sergeant stepped out. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked them.

"We're trying to get these people to safety!" Robin answered. "What's going on here?" Though he already suspected what was going on.

"If you're looking to go to those mountains, don't! We've got a group of scorpions headed this way?"

"Scorpions?" Cyborg asked.

"Um, that's our nickname for them tripods. You guys better get out of here. I'd head south if I were you. Those aliens'll be here any minute!"

"But we've traveled so far already! Everyone is exhausted!" Starfire protested. "Can you not take some of them with you?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't! We need everyone here to hold off those tripods."

"Do you honestly think you'll be able to stop them?" Cyborg asked angrily.

The man paused. "Look, orders are orders, and we wouldn't have enough room for all you guys anyway! Now I gotta get out of here. You people better beat it before they arrive!" With that he stepped into his jeep and it drove away.

"Well, that went well, didn't it?" Slade mused.

"Oh, this is terrible!" Starfire cried.

"Well, we can't panic now!" Robin interjected. "We gotta change our plans now. They're heading this way from the north, so we'd better take his advice and go south. We'll have to get everyone out of here."

Everyone did as he suggested. Not much later, the sounds of the military clashing with the aliens sprang up. Starfire looked and could see them fighting not to far away from where they were now. There were four tripods from what she could tell. They were close enough that she could still make out the shape of the helicopters that were firing missiles at them in vain.

Once everyone had started heading away from the battle, Robin paused to see what was happening. He knew what would happen. He had learned too much already. Yet, he had to see it. He and the others watched as the machines mercilessly cut a path of destruction through the humans. When all was done, the four machines stood like sentinels of war amongst a field of flames and metal scraps. They were about to make a run for it when Cyborg shouted.

"Guys, look!" he pointed out in the distance behind where the war machines were standing.

Out in the distance, a large, dark mass was rising from the horizon. The thing rose higher and higher into the sky. It was a large, flat, dark gray expanse. It was unlike anything they had seen before. Robin gaped at its size. He could tell it had to have been easily at least twice the size of a blimp. A loud mechanical humming sound emanated from the colossal machine. The thing was shaped like a semi-disk with spotlights dotting its underside. For a moment it hovered and rotated in the sky. After a while it descended and disappeared behind the mountain range.

Robin looked at the others. All of them wore expressions of awe and fear. Even Slade looked afraid – which wasn't a good sign.

"Friends, was that-?" Starfire began.

"So much for them not having an air force," Cyborg lamented.

"We had better get out of here now," Slade advised. Actually, it sounded more like a command. The four of them were off in a flash.

"Great," Robin growled to himself. "This is like a bad story."

* * *

Yes! School is over! Of course now, I gotta work. But I still have a lot more time on my hands now. I hope to get this fic done by the end of the summer, and I think I will. There's not all that much left to go! Next chapter, BB and Rae finally discover the Martians' "eating habits". Hee hee… What did you think? As always, please R&R. I'm always eager for comments. 


	12. Chapter 12: Darkest Hour

Here it is, another chapter. Apologies to everyone who's been waiting for updates. Lately I've been focusing on my other story and haven't really been giving this one as much attention. Sorry, guys. If I could do it over, I would have finished this story **months** ago. Anyway, I hope this chapter is at least a little worth the wait. And just a note, this segment of the story's going to focus solely on Rae and BB. :)

And just so you know, I've been toying with another TT story lately. Though I'm not sure if I'm going to post it or not.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

* * *

**Chapter 12: Darkest Hour**

Two hours had passed since the third tripod arrived, and still nothing seemed to be happening. The one that had just arrived was carrying a horde of frightened-looking people in two baskets on its backside. From the dark basement, Raven and Beast Boy were watching the spectacle from behind a small window.

"Are they doing anything out there?" the shape-shifter asked as he peered through the glass.

Raven squinted. "I can't tell." The red weed had started to grow over the window and was making it difficult to make out what was happening.

"There's gotta be something we can do!" he said through gritted teeth. "Maybe we can free them!"

"Beast Boy, there are three tripods out there, and two of us. We don't stand a chance. You know that," Raven replied.

One of the tripods that had been there before was walking around again outside, exhausting its red fertilizer out the back.

"What are they doing with those people?" Beast Boy asked. "Why didn't they kill them?"

Raven sighed. It's not as if she knew any more than he did. She had an idea, but didn't want to say it. "I'm not sure."

Beast Boy's mind flashed back to the time he carried Raven into the house. He remembered seeing the huge machines picking up fleeing civilians with their tentacles as they ran. The memory sent a chill up his spine.

Raven put a hand up to her head. The cut on her head was a little sensitive. She hoped it wasn't infected, but she was at least thankful it didn't require stitches. She looked over at Beast Boy and couldn't help feeling sorry for him. He was so _innocent_. He looked up to her, yet she had never thought of herself as that good a person. He felt brave with her around, yet she probably wasn't any more capable of defending herself from the invaders than he was.

When the scene remained unchanged for a while, Beast Boy slinked away from the window and collapsed on the couch. He was tired. Lately, it seemed like he was _always_ tired.

Raven remained by the window. It was now past noon. They had only a few more hours before it became dark again. She peaked through the window again. It was cloudy outside, as it had been yesterday. The way the clouds looked, Raven wouldn't have been surprised if it rained soon. Surely enough, about half an hour later, the soft pitter-patter of raindrops sounded from above.

Beast Boy was still lying down, not saying a word. Raven had moved from the window to a dark corner of the room, buried deep in her own thoughts. Her emotions were starting to resurface, so she decided to meditate to calm herself down. Really though, she couldn't help thinking it was just to avoid Beast Boy. Her mind kept drifting back to the hug she and Beast Boy inadvertently shared a short while ago. It had been enough to make her shy away from him. And yet, she kept feeling the desire to do it again, to feel it again. The feeling was so _persistent_.

Nevertheless, she pushed the thought out of her head and tried to focus on something else. She thought again of Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire. Wherever they were, she only hoped they were away from danger. She _hoped_. The mage's mind also wondered to Titans East. Perhaps they had found a way to fight them. Deep down however, Raven felt they were having no more success than they were. Raven wanted to think there was some way they could defeat them. They had always found a way in the past. Now, there seemed to be no way out. A dead end. Raven couldn't help thinking there was no way, that they were doomed.

But she wouldn't let go of her hope. If there was one thing Robin had taught her, it was to never let go of hope. If she was already defeated in her mind, then she was good as defeated already. Robin always had that heroic determination. Foolhardy yes, but somewhat admirable.

When another deafening blast sounded from the machines outside, Raven almost jumped. Beast Boy, whose hearing was better than hers, did leap out of his seat in surprise. He looked out the window to see if anything was happening. Nothing seemed to have changed. Sometimes he wondered if they liked making that noise just for fun. He started to back away, trying to avoid the puddles of water on the floor. Rain had started to leak into the basement through the hole in the ceiling, and was starting to make its way across the floor. As if things weren't bad enough. He sat back down, his head swimming.

"Man, that never gets old, does it?" he said to Raven with a forced smile. She said nothing in response, but was just staring at the window across from her as if she was expecting a Martian to burst through at any moment. He turned his head away and just stared blankly ahead. As if the Martians weren't bad enough, the sheer boredom was now starting to get to him.

Raven's attention shifted to the shape-shifter once again when she heard him humming. She instantly recognized it – it was that same melody he was humming when she first woke up in the house after being unconscious. Raven looked over at Beast Boy, who still sat alone. A wave of regret came over her. She could feel his fear and how alone he felt. She had been avoiding him all because she was afraid that she might have _feelings_ for him. She shouldn't be avoiding him. Even if Raven didn't have feelings for him, she should try to support him as a friend. He had looked to her for support, and frankly, she wasn't doing a good job of it.

Well, it wasn't too late to rectify that mistake. She hoisted herself off the ground walked over to the dusty couch, and sat down beside him. Beast Boy was shaken out of a daydream and looked over at her, half-startled.

"Hey," she said with a forced smile. "You okay?"

He shrugged. "I guess. As okay as one can be when there are hordes of aliens outside who probably want to kill me."

"Yeah, I guess that's not to pleasant a thought."

He gulped. "Tell me about it. It's just that feeling that if I go to sleep, something bad is going to happen."

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're afraid again. I'm still with you, remember?"

"Okay, I'm a little scared of them, I admit. A _little_." He winked at her. "But not as much as I'm scared of you, Rae."

She smiled again, this time for real. "Thanks, BB. I appreciate the compliment."

"Aww, you called me BB. I'm touched."

"Quit it."

Beast Boy put on a faux-macho pose. "I know. It's obvious that you dig me. I'm so stupid! I should have seen it all along."

"I said _quit it_," she said a little more sharply. Before she got angry she stopped herself. She knew deep down he just liked to tease her. She was relived nevertheless that he still had his sense of humor intact. It was probably the one thing helping him to deal with what was going on. She bit her lip when she pondered what to say next. For some reason, she actually wanted to keep talking. Then an idea hit her. "Hey Beast Boy?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"What was that thing you were humming earlier?" she queried. "It's the second time I've heard you hum it. What is it?"

Beast Boy lowered his head nervously and blushed. "It's nothing."

"Really? But it was nice. I kinda liked it."

Beast Boy opened his mouth, but quickly snapped it shut. "Nah, it's stupid."

Raven playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Come on, what was it? You can tell me. I won't laugh. _Promise_."

Beast Boy's face turned an even deeper shade of red, and he nervously scratched his head. "It's um, a song I remember from when I was really young. It's um," he repeatedly stumbled over his words. "It's a lullaby. My parents, I mean, I remember them singing it to me when I got scared. That's what I was humming."

Raven leaned back on the cushion. "Do you think you could sing it for me?"

Now the changeling's face was practically indistinguishable from a tomato. "Rae, do I really…?"

Raven tried to put on a puppy-dog look. "Please?" That was probably the first time she could remember ever saying that word to him. "I'd really like to hear it."

Beast Boy shuffled nervously. "Um, okay." He straightened out and paused as if he still wasn't sure if he was going to do it. But finally, he began.

"_Hush my child, don't you cry,_

_Though the sun has left the sky._

_The shadow comes, and purges light_

_And the darkness closes tight."_

The melody was slow and sad, yet strangely comforting. Raven was entranced while Beast Boy went on.

"_But don't be afraid, don't you fear,_

_Though I'm not there to hold you near._

_The sun will come, and bring the day,_

_The light comes now to show the way. _

Beast Boy's voice slowed as he choked out the words.

_So be brave my child, you must be strong,_

_Hold your head high and keep walking on._

_I'll be with you, wherever you roam,_

_The daylight will come, and bring you home."_

Raven's eyes moved from her hands to Beast Boy's face. Tears had started streaming down his face. She edged closer to him and put her arm around his shoulder. "That was beautiful," she said to him. She could feel her own tears starting to form, but she blinked them away.

Beast Boy leaned his head on her shoulder. "Sorry, I kind of get that way when I think about my parents."

"Don't be," she said as she leaned her head on his. He had lost his parents long ago. She knew deep down she didn't understand what he was feeling. She hated her father and her mother was gone. But nevertheless, she felt so sorry for him. Raven often wished she had normal, loving parents like he did. She looked back on the years they'd been together and wished that they'd gotten along better. That was her last thought before sleep subdued her.

* * *

The loud grinding of machinery was what finally awoke both Titans. Raven straightened herself out and rubbed her eyes. It was now night out, that much she could tell. By the sound of it, the rain had stopped, though much of the basement floor was wet now. Like last night, there was a strange green light creeping in through the windows. 

"What's going on?" Beast Boy asked as he rubbed his eyes. He looked around and noticed how dark it was, too. "Rae?"

Raven got up and approached the window. Now it was really hard to see because of all the red weed that had grown over the windows. She hated the stuff. However, by leaning in closer she could make out what was going on. It was a bizarre sight.

The three giant tripods were gathered around in a circle, their massive heads looking at the ground. Their menacing metallic tentacles waved in the air, and the spotlights lit up the place in an eerie green glow. Through the loud noises emanated by them she could hear screaming coming from the captive humans.

"Raven, what's going on?" Beast Boy asked again, sounding afraid. When Raven didn't answer, he ran over to another window to see what was going on. His window was even more overgrown with the red plant, and he could barely see anything.

Raven focused on the voices. They came from the strange basket the tripods were using to hold the humans. She could hear them all yelling and screaming. A strong fear gripped Raven. Something terrible was about to happen, and she didn't know what.

"Raven?" she heard Beast Boy ask again, this time from right next to her. "What's happening."

"I don't know," she finally answered.

"Let me see!" Raven moved over so Beast Boy could see. Judging by his look, Raven could tell he heard the screaming humans too, and probably better than she could. "Oh man! What's going on out there? They almost look like they're doing some kind of cult ritual."

Raven feared it was worse than that. Her mind wondered again. She remembered the plane wreck they had found and how every body had been removed from the wreckage. That had to have been it. It was so obvious that she mentally kicked herself. They were vastly more intelligent than humans, but they still needed to eat.

"Look!" Beast Boy shouted. He moved over a bit so Raven could see.

It was just as she feared. She saw one of the tripods grab a struggling human from a basket and pull him out. It looked like a man, but it was hard to tell how old he was. The tentacle placed him down on the ground in the middle of the group. An old truck and some bushes hid the human from sight. Then they saw some kind of probe attached to a long tube slither out from the front of another tripod.

"Beast Boy, don't look!" Raven warned him. She tried to push him away so he couldn't see what she was sure was about to happen.

"No! I gotta see this!" he protested. He pushed back so he could see what was happening.

The metallic probe was lowered toward the ground. It ended in a very sharp point. As it was lowered it split open so it ended in three sharp points. Then, in a swift motion, it shot at the ground and the two Titans could hear a sickening crunch as it embedded itself in what was undoubtedly the unfortunate person. As soon as it did, they heard the human go quiet.

"Oh…" Beast Boy moaned. She glanced over at him to see how he was taking it. He wanted to turn his head away, but no matter how hard he tried he remained transfixed on what was happening. He could hear what sounded like pumps, and as he watched, a column of red liquid traveled up the tube and into the tripod.

"Beast Boy?" Raven asked to see if he was okay. He looked over at her, eyes wide as dinner plates.

"Rae, did you see that?" he said hysterically. "They're eating _us_! They're eating _us_!"

He fell away from the window and collapsed against the wall. Raven hoped he hadn't snapped. "Beast Boy, calm down!"

"They're eating us! They're eating us! They're eating us!" he continued with no signs of stopping.

Raven went away from the window to try and calm him down. "Beast Boy, shh! Stop it!"

"They're eating us! They're eating us! They're eating us!" he went on.

"Beast Boy, quiet! They're going to hear you!" she hissed.

"They're eating us! They're eating us!"

"Beast Boy, _get a GRIP_!" Raven swiftly slapped him hard across the face. He stopped and now just stared blankly ahead with a slightly dumbfounded expression. Raven delicately reached out with her hands and turned his head so their eyes met. A wave of relief went through her as she saw the sanity slowly return to his eyes. "Beast Boy," she whispered. "It's okay."

The green changeling sniffed and collapsed against her as he hugged her tightly. The mage responded by wrapping her own arms around him and embraced him. Raven rested her own head on his. "Don't quit on me now, hero," she whispered to him. After a few minutes passed, she gently helped him up and led him away from the window so they wouldn't hear what was going on outside. She led him back to the old sofa and sat him down, then sat down next to him while still holding him close. He was actually shivering. With nothing much else she could do, she hummed the lullaby he had sung to her earlier. When she did, she noticed his shaking stopped.

Raven's emotions resurfaced and threatened to take control of her again. She was afraid, but she was angry too. She cursed herself and the Martians to have to sit and watch while they continued their genocide. Everything they did made a mockery of them.

Beast Boy remained silent for what seemed like at least an hour after that. When she was sure he was ready talk, Raven decided to make sure he was alright. She cupped his chin in her hand and raised his head so he was looking at her. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Her voice was dry and raspy, yet to him it sounded like the most wonderful thing in the world right now. He smiled weakly. "Yeah." He scratched the back of his head nervously. "I'm fine. Sorry for freaking out back there."

"It's okay," she assured him. "I think that'd be a hard thing for anyone to take."

"I know, but I still should have handled it better."

"It's alright," she said again. "I think you might have just gone crazy for a second, there."

"Maybe I did," he sighed. He looked at the window. The eerie green light weakened, making the room darker. "So they eat like leeches. Kind of creepy."

"Yeah." Raven stood up and stretched. "Those they don't kill, they eat. I wonder if they did the same thing before they came here."

"Probably, but I don't want to think about it," he muttered as Raven sat back down. After a moment of silence, Beast Boy spoke out of the blue. "Hey Raven?"

"Hmm?"

"I just wanted to say that, um…" he shifted awkwardly. "I'm sorry for all those times I got on your nerves."

Raven blinked in surprise. "Beast Boy?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'm sorry that I've been a pain in the butt a lot. I guess you're right, I try to be funny but most of the time I was just annoying."

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it," she said with an arched eyebrow, "You always were kind of cute in a nerdy sort of way." Even though it was dark, she could tell he was blushing.

"Thanks. I mean, thanks. I mean…" kicked himself mentally. "Now that I think about it, I think I did it most of the time just to get your attention."

Raven was a little shocked at that. Why would he want her attention? "Beast Boy, I know we haven't always gotten along that well. But I just wanted to tell you…" Now she was the one blushing. "I've always considered you a very good friend." It was true, after all. He was the one who seemed to keep her company the most. He was the who was tried to get her to lighten up most of the time. He also had helped her before in her own moments of self-doubt. Who wouldn't want a friend like that? "I…" she stammered. "I really do like you, Beast Boy."

Beast Boy smiled one of his nervous grins. "Thanks. I like you, too, Rae."

"I know I've always been a distant person, especially around you. But just so you know, it's not because I hated you. I might act like it, but I think it's mostly because…" she paused. "I think it's because I'm still afraid of my own emotions. I try to be brave and act like I'm not afraid of anything. But truthfully, I think I'm always afraid. I'm afraid of my own feelings."

Beast Boy listened without saying a word, but he never broke eye contact.

"I, I guess I've always been afraid of being close to anyone, even my own friends."

"Rae, we've been over this before," he replied. "You don't have to be. We're your friends. You're never alone. We're always here for you."

Raven didn't show it, but his words sincerely touched her. She returned his smile. "Thanks."

"Hey, if you're afraid we'll reject you because of who you are, it's not gonna happen."

Raven shook her head. "It's not that, Beast Boy, it's just that…" she didn't know how to say what she felt. _"I'm afraid of being closer than friends,"_ she thought.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," he assured her. He had a wide grin she could clearly see even through the darkness. "You're never alone. I'll be here for ya."

The mage swallowed hard. It was good to have a friend like him. Raven was now aware that their faces were only inches apart. She wanted to turn away, but she was almost in a trance. "Beast Boy…" Her voice trailed off and whatever she was about to say got lost. She stared at him right in the eyes, and he returned her gaze with equal intensity. Their faces drew closer together. The mage suddenly felt closer to him than she'd ever felt to anyone. Her eyes started to close as her lips parted. Their lips were now a mere inch away from meeting, when...

**CRASH!** A loud noise from outside snapped them out of their moment. The two Titans' heads snapped in the direction of the disturbance at the same time.

"What was that?" Beast Boy asked. The two of them stood up and rushed over to the window to see what was happening. Outside they could see the massive machines moving about. One of them was standing on a now-crushed tree, which had undoubtedly caused the noise. With a loud foghorn blast, one of the tripod's scorpion head turned, and it started to stomp off toward the distance. The other two tripods followed close behind. They could hardly believe it. They were leaving!

"Rae, I think they're leaving!" Beast Boy said excitedly. The demonic mage continued to stare. Surely enough, the tripods' massive forms got gradually smaller and smaller, and their footsteps gradually grew more silent. Raven's heart leapt. They were gone!

"They're leaving, Rae!" Beast Boy repeated joyfully. He could hardly contain his excitement. "Yes! They're leaving! They're leaving!"

Raven smiled and let out the biggest sigh of relief she had in a long time. It felt as if someone had removed a weight off her shoulders. "Yes!"

"Now we can finally leave this dump!" the changeling said happily. He jumped up and down in excitement.

"Well we can't leave just yet," Raven said. "We don't know if they're coming back. We'll wait until morning. If they don't return, then it's a safe bet they're gone for good. We can't travel when it's this dark out, anyway."

Beast Boy calmed himself and leapt back to Raven's side. "We can take some of the food here with us. And that first-aid kit, too. That cut of yours still looks kinda nasty," he told her. Raven had actually forgotten about her cut, but it was still there. Almost as if on cue a dull pain passed through it again.

"Hey Rae, just out of curiosity, where are we going to go?" he asked her.

Raven paused. Actually, she hadn't given it much thought. "Hmm. That's a good question." She patted him on the shoulder. "But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let's sleep on it, okay?"

Beast Boy's ears perked, and he nodded. "Agreed."

"If they're gone, we'll leave first thing tomorrow," she said.

"Okay." The shape-shifter yawned. By the time he looked at Raven again, she had already collapsed on the couch. She really _was_ exhausted.

"Need some company?" he asked her, half-serious and half-jokingly.

Raven rolled her eyes and grinned. Her hood was drawn over her head again. "Please," she said.

Beast Boy was all too happy to oblige. He ran over there, and next thing Raven knew, a small green kitten curled up in her lap.

"Very cute, BB," she said as she stroked the purring kitten.

The kitten walked off her lap and mutated back into the normal Beast Boy, who leaned against her. His eyes started to close but they snapped back open. The memory of their very close "moment" came back. There was no point in denying it, they had almost kissed mere minutes ago. "Hey Rae, about that…" he started.

"We'll talk about that later, too," she said.

Beast Boy's eyes closed again. "Okay. G'night, Raven."

"Goodnight, Beast Boy," she whispered back. For the first time, they both felt safe as they drifted off to sleep together.

* * *

Please R&R! I hope you liked this chapter. This is one of the very few times where I'll say I liked it, too! The way things go right now, I might try to finish this story before I work on my other fic, since this one has only a few more chapters to go. The next update won't take very long. Adios. 


	13. Chapter 13: With You

Once again, this chapter's going to deal solely with BB and Raven! So if anyone was hoping to see any more of the other three Titans, you're out of luck. Don't get mad just yet, they'll be coming back in the next chapter! (Watch out, there's some fluff at the end. You have been warned.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

**Chapter 13: With You**

Beast Boy twitched when he felt sunlight fall upon his closed eyelids. He and his mage companion were sleeping on the same sofa; Beast Boy on one end and Raven on the other. He recalled the events of last night. It had been both the worst and the best night he'd had since the Martians first landed. He finally found out their "food source" which frightened the daylights out of him. Right after that though, he felt he may have at last finally gotten Raven to open up to him. And on top of it all, he remembered how last night he had been closer to Raven than he'd ever been in his life... It made him smile just to think about it.

He turned his head so the sun wasn't falling directly on his eyes. He wondered if Raven was still asleep. It was morning, that much he guessed. The Martians had finally left the night before, finally allowing them to leave the house that had almost turned into their prison. Now they had a long day ahead of them. They'd finally set out and try to find help and, hopefully, find the rest of the Titans.

Beast Boy twitched again when he felt more light fall on his closed eyes. That was strange, since he had just turned away from the window. Finally deciding it'd be a good time to get up, Beast Boy opened his eyes, and to his surprise, found himself staring face-to-face at his own reflection! It took him only a split second to realize what it was and let out a terrified yell. It wasn't sunlight he had felt, after all.

"AAAAHHH! RAVEN! RAVEN!" the mage heard him shout at the top of his lungs, instantly waking her up. She sat up and whipped her head over to find Beast Boy being stared at by a Martian camera! Its eye-like lens turned from him toward her and its two spotlights practically blinded her.

Raven gritted her teeth and focused her energy on the camera. _"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!"_ she chanted loudly. A bolt of black energy darted forth and exploded the camera's head into shards of broken metal and glass. With the camera device destroyed, the long tube it was attached to slithered back and was pulled out of the basement. Beast Boy finally scrambled to his feet and rushed over to Raven's side.

As they listened, the unmistakable footsteps of a tripod could be heard outside. Raven cursed out loud. "They've found us! We gotta get out of here!" she shouted to Beast Boy. She was seething with both fear and anger. They came back, after all. All the hopes she had last night had now shattered in an instant.

Beast Boy opened his mouth to speak. "But what about-"

"There's no time!" she shouted back. "We gotta get out of here before it's too late!"

Before they could even attempt to escape, however, a loud crash came from above, and plaster fell down around them. They looked up to see a fresh, gaping hole in the ceiling and a metallic tentacle snaking its way through it and toward them.

"Quick!" Beast Boy yelled. He and Raven both leaped in opposite directions away from the tentacle before it could reach either of them. The long tendril reached the floor and felt around like a human trying to grab mice out of a hole. The appendage went in Beast Boy's direction, first. It darted across the floor, found one of his ankles, and wrapped itself around it. He yelled hysterically as he was dragged across the floor. He paused in mid-scream when he remembered that he could transform. _"Duh, stupid,"_ he thought to himself. In the blink of an eye, Beast Boy became a tiny green spider, and the tentacle gripped nothing but thin air.

But it wasn't over yet. Not to be beaten yet, the tentacle reached over to the other side where Raven was. It waved around furiously as it tried to find her. The half-demon flew up toward the ceiling away from it and over to Beast Boy. "Quick, hold on to me," she commanded. Not questioning her, Beast Boy held on to one of her arms while she pulled him close. "Hang on!" she said. She lifted off and flew straight toward the wall, carrying the changeling with her. Beast Boy closed his eyes and braced for impact.

"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven yelled. The wall before them burst open, creating a wide hole big enough for her to escape through. Unfortunately, right outside was a thick tangle of red vines. By the time Raven noticed them, she had flown right into them, entangling them both. Raven cursed again as she and Beast Boy both went tumbling along the ground through the forest of red vines. Both of them were thoroughly dumbfounded – they didn't think it was possible for any plant to grow this fast. Before they had arrived, the plants weren't even there.

"Perfect," Raven muttered to herself. Rolling along the ground had gotten her tangled in the red vines, making it very difficult to move. She knew they didn't have long before the tripod would spot them, so they had to do something, and quick. From the looks of things, the sun had barely started to rise and it was still rather dark out. Beast Boy was tangled up as well, and seemed more preoccupied at helping Raven get free than getting himself free.

"Here, I can help," he said to her. Raven watched as he turned into a green bear. Not hesitating for a moment, he bit through and ripped apartevery vine that was preventing her from escaping. When he was done, they leapt out of the thick and onto open ground. Beast Boy grimaced. "Man, that stuff tastes terrible!"

"Hurry, let's go!" Raven said desperately. However, Beast Boy paused. She looked back to see what was keeping him, and noticed what he had been staring at. The entire landscape around them was now transformed. Instead of green, they saw red – everywhere. The trees all around seemed faded and dying. Out to the hills as far as they could see, the red weed had spread like wildfire and was slowly enveloping the green that had once been there.

A loud mechanical whir snapped them back into reality. They turned just in time to see the colossal tripod coming toward them. One of its mechanical legs lurched forward and through the house, affectively splitting what little of it was left in half. Raven and Beast Boy made an attempt to escape, but the tripod reacted first. The 'tail' laser fired its crimson beam at them, igniting the ground between them. The sheer heat and force of the beam caused them both to jump away and tumble in opposite directions. The tripod decided to switch tactics and use its tentacles instead. It brought its metal tendrils down on the heroes. One of them found Beast Boy, only instead of grabbing him, it swung at him and sent him sailing through the air.

"Beast Boy!" Raven called. Before she could do anything, she was struck from behind in a similar manner. The mage went sprawling forward and hit her head on the ground. After that, everything became a blur. Despite not being fully with it, she swore again on the inside. The _last_ thing she needed in her state was another injury to the head. She tried to call upon her powers but it was almost impossible to concentrate from the sheer noise and the blow she had just received. She could do little except struggle when she felt a tendril wrap around her leg and hoist her into the air.

The hit Beast Boy received had knocked the wind out of him and hurled him a good distance. He hit the ground hard and rolled into a tree trunk. The changeling felt a pain in one of his legs and hoped he hadn't broken anything. Fearing for his life, he didn't waste any time in getting up. The first thing Beast Boy heard when he got to his feet was Raven shouting. Fearing the worst, he looked above to see what was happening.

He froze when his worst fears became reality in an instant. He stared in horror as the machine pick up the small, struggling mage. From the ground he could hear her frightened shouts. "Help!" she yelled. _There_ was a word he didn't hear her say often. The tripod reached behind itself and placed her in one of its baskets as it walked away.

"NO NO NOOO!" Beast Boy screamed at the top of his lungs. This couldn't be happening… Not now. Not to her. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair! Not after they had come this far. This couldn't be the end. He wouldn't let this be the end.

His teeth gritted and his fists clenched as his fear slowly melted away into pure anger and hatred. This was _it_. He no longer cared if they had heat beams or poison gas or anything. His mind became dead set on rescuing his friend…and killing _them_.

Meanwhile, the tripod seemed to have forgotten about him and started stomping away. Beast Boy's mind raced. He couldn't let it get away. His mind had now worked itself into an almost feral rage. His eyes darted as he looked for something, _anything_ he could use to get at that machine. The shape-shifter locked eyes on an armored humvee. It was burned and damaged. He guessed it had to have been left over from the battle that had happened there only days before.

He ran over to it as fast as he could while keeping track of how far the tripod had gone. Beast Boy opened one of the doors, and on the seat he spotted a grenade belt. Without thinking, he grabbed it and dashed blindly toward the tripod. As he ran, an idea suddenly came to his head. Regaining his sanity, he ran up behind the tripod as close as he could get.

"HEY!" he roared as loud as he could. With this he pulled out one of the grenades, pulled the pin, and hurled it at the tripod. The grenade hit and detonated off the tripod's shield. As Beast Boy hoped, this caused the tripod to stop dead in its tracks. Its head swiveled around, and its spotlight focused straight on Beast Boy.

The shape-shifter squinted to avoid being blinded by the light. _"Please take me, please take me,"_ he thought. His hopes were fulfilled when a tentacle came down and wrapped around his waste. Beast Boy gulped as he was lifted swiftly off the ground and rose higher and higher into the air. The tripod reached behind its head and dropped Beast Boy through some kind of port in the back. Beast Boy drew a deep breath as he was sucked down a tube, trying also not to drop the grenade belt he was carrying.

In a flash he found himself landing on top of a mass of people. He let out a clumsy "Oof!" when he landed hard on a web of thick metal bars. Beast Boy looked around and saw that he was in some kind of cage. The tripod's basket. Around he could see the faces of a bunch of frightened people, many of whom were staring at him. He could understand why - it wasn't every day you saw a boy with green skin and hair.

Beast Boy carefully got up to his feet, trying to avoid slipping through the openings in the criss-crossed metal bars. He was about to call Raven when he saw her dark form lying against the walls of the cage. He pushed his way through the frightened civilians, not even bothering to answer the questions he was being pelted with by them. Raven noticed him too, and looked up at him as he approached.

"Raven!"

"Stop the ride, I want to get off," she muttered sarcastically.

He chuckled despite the situation. "Are you okay?" he asked as he stopped by her side

Raven put a hand to her forehead. "I'm fine. I just hit my head – again," she said with an expression that looked more annoyed than hurt.

"It's okay, Rae. I'm gonna get us out of here," he told her.

"How?" When she noticed the grenade belt he was carrying, she blinked in surprised. "Where did you get that?"

"Found it. I have an idea, but I need your help," he said. "I need to get inside the machine somehow."

Raven pointed at the top of the cage. Above them was a port covered by some kind of red membrane. "They pull them in through the opening," she explained. "I saw them do it right before you arrived."

Beast Boy gulped. He definitely didn't want to do this. But he wasn't about to go back on his plan. "You sure you're okay?" he asked her.

"I've been way better," she muttered. "But at least my head's stopped spinning."

"Don't worry, Rae. I'll get us out of here," he said again.

"Of course I'm not worried," she replied, but her expression turned sincere as she looked him straight in the eye. "I'm with you, Beast Boy."

The changeling froze when he heard those words come out of her. Only a few days ago he would have never expected to hear her say something like that in a million years. He gulped, trying to keep tears from filling his eyes.

The panicked shouts from the people behind him were what finally caused them to break contact. Both of them looked to see what was happening. From above, they saw the tip of a light-gray tentacle reaching through the opening in the top of the cage. Beast Boy quickly turned back to Raven. "Do you trust me?" he asked firmly.

She nodded. "Yes. Good luck."

"I'll be back! I promise!" he assured her as he left her side. He grabbed the belt and headed for the tentacle which was now making a grab for someone. He rushed forward and pushed the unfortunate person out of the way. "Take me! Take me!" he shouted. The tentacle found him and wrapped around him and pulled him up out of the cage.

"My god! What's he doing?" a woman asked.

"Is he insane?" a man asked.

Raven got to her feet. "Let him go! He knows what he's doing!" she told them. _"I hope,"_ she added in her mind.

Beast Boy suppressed a shiver as he was pulled toward the opening and through the slimy red film. The substance stretched around his body as he was drawn, allowing him to pass through. Raven watched as he was pulled through headfirst until he finally disappeared behind the red membrane. The mage's heart raced and sweat started to gather at her temples.

Seconds passed, but to her they felt like hours. She kept her eyes glued to the opening, looking for any sign of him to reappear. Raven concentrated with all her might to keep her emotions under control as she waited. "Where are you?" she muttered to herself. Finally, she spotted something pop out of the membrane's tiny opening. It was small and green – a green fly! In a flash the small fly became Beast Boy.

"Raven, I'm in!" he shouted as he fell to the basket's floor. Raven's eyes widened when she noticed he no longer had the grenade belt he had just been carrying.

"Everybody DOWN!" she shouted. With all her might, she threw up a black force-field around the entire cage.

Mere seconds after she did so, an explosion echoed from within the tripod. The boom caused the entire cage to rattle, followed by the shouts and screams of frightened people from around them. Another explosion sounded, then another. Raven looked and saw the tripod's head exploding from the inside out. The basket rattled and shook violently as it detached from the back of the tripod. The screams of the people got louder as they tumbled toward the ground.

Even despite this, Raven kept her concentration. She focused as hard as she could and slowed the cage's descent. In a matter of seconds, the basket's fall slowed more and more until finally it landed on the ground with little more than a thud. Right a loud boom sounded as the colossal tripod crashed into the ground. The head erupted into flames and some kind of yellow liquid was now streaming out of it.

But it wasn't over yet, they were still trapped in the cage. Raven extended her hand toward the cage's wall. "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she chanted. The bars bent and split apart, finally allowing them to escape. One by one, the shaken civilians exited the basket. Beast Boy and Raven were the last to come out, and when they did they were greeted by the cheers of the people they had just saved.

"You-you saved us!" an older man said in awe to the two young heroes.

"Thank you," a woman said after him. She was followed by the 'thank yous' of everyone in the group. Beast Boy and Raven both glanced at each other nervously under the gaze of the mass of people.

"Who are you?" a middle-aged woman asked them.

Beast Boy straightened up and folded his arms over his chest in a heroic pose. "We're the Teen Titans, ma'am." Raven nodded in response.

The crowd cheered again. "Hey, I've heard of you!" a man shouted. "You're those heroes from Jump City. But where are the other guys?"

Raven was the first to answer. "Separated. We don't know where they are."

"But we hope to find 'em soon," Beast Boy added.

"Well, best of luck to you," the man replied. "We all owe you our lives. Thanks."

"Anytime!" Beast Boy said proudly. Raven rolled her eyes but grinned at the same time.

More sounds from off in the distance caused everyone to turn. At first they were afraid it was more Martians, but their hearts leapt when they saw what was coming down the road.

"Look! A convoy!" Beast Boy shouted ecstatically. Military tanks, trucks, and humvees rumbled down the road and came to a halt near them. Turns out, it was the sight of the downed tripod that caused them to stop in the first place. Everyone including the two Titans ran over to the welcome sight. They could see the shocked expressions of every soldier in the convoy as they noticed the dead tripod. Outside the lead truck stepped several surprised-looking soldiers.

"Holy crap!" one of them said as they approached. His surprised expression only increased when he saw the mage and the green changeling approaching him. "Geez, did you guys take that down?" he asked them.

"Well, sort of," Beast Boy said sheepishly.

"Really? Dang, you must be the first to ever do that! How didja do it?"

"We couldn't get through its force field, if that's what you're asking," Raven explained. "We had to do it from the inside out." She explained to the soldiers just how they'd managed to take it down.

The soldiers looked slightly disappointed, but still excited just the same. "Oh well. That was genius, though. Genius." He stopped and looked at the civilians that had gathered around. "You're in luck, by the way. We were just sent through hear to pick up any straggling civilians." At this every person in the crowd cheered again.

"Alright, calm down!" the leading officer shouted. "Everyone board the truck in an organized manner and we'll get you out as soon as possible." They were only too happy to do so, and eagerly boarded the vehicles as directed. Only Raven and Beast Boy stayed behind.

"You coming?" he asked them.

The two of them glanced at each other than back at the officer. "No, we need to do something else," Raven replied.

"You sure?"

"We'll be fine," Raven assured him. "But thanks anyway." Beast Boy smiled up at her.

The officer shrugged. He didn't even bother to ask what they needed to do. "Oh well. But thanks again. Good luck to ya. Alright everyone, let's move out!"

* * *

Moments later, everyone boarded and the military convoy rolled down the road and out of sight, leaving the two heroes alone. Without saying anything, they walked over to the smoldering wreck of the alien machine. The two sat against the tree trunk and for the longest time, simply sat and stared at the fiery heap. The tentacles all lay motionless. The laser cannons all were lifeless, and its spotlight was now cracked and dark. 

They sat their together and simply stared at it, unable to believe what they had just done. Neither of them could believe their luck. They had gone from seemingly having only bad luck to having the best luck in the world.

Beast Boy was the first to look from the wreckage to his friend. Truthfully, they both weren't a very pretty sight. They were both dirty and beat up. Their clothes were torn in several places and were smeared with dirt, mud, and grass stains. Even their hair was messed up. Even still, the sun had now started to rise, and it was reflecting off her skin and lavender hair in the most amazing way. She looked so beautiful…

Noticing he was staring at her, Raven turned and stared back. To his surprise, she was grinning. Her expression caused Beast Boy to giggle. When he started, Raven was unable to keep herself from giggling as well. Their giggling soon grew into a chuckle, and then the two of them soon erupted in all out laughter. It was probably the first time in days they'd truly laughed at all.

Raven felt more relaxed than she had been in a while, even more so than last night. She got up and motioned for Beast Boy to follow her. He happily did so, and they walked over to the tripod's now lifeless head. They stopped right next to it, and even on the ground it looked huge. Raven didn't even need to use her powers to know the occupants inside were all dead. Beast Boy, despite being a very compassionate person, felt nothing but satisfaction at seeing the dead wreck.

The two turned from the wreckage to each other. Without even knowing it, they were holding each other's hands.

"You did it, Beast Boy," she said warmly.

Beast Boy blushed shyly. "Nah. _We_ did it, Rae."

Raven couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from moving upward. Not a moment passed before she pulled him toward her in a tight hug, to which he responded by hugging her back. They remained in that position for what seemed like hours, neither of them letting go.

Eventually, Raven was the first to pull away. Beast Boy wondered how she'd respond, if she'd blush or walk away nervously as she had done on previous occasions. To his surprise, she continued to gaze at him with nothing but affection in her eyes. Truthfully, it actually made him nervous. This was not the typical Raven he knew. Maybe one of her positive emotions had taken over her body again. _Something_ in was different, maybe for the better. He couldn't say he was sad about.

Now was the moment. If he was going to say what he'd been wanting to say for a long time, he might as well do it now. But it wouldn't be easy.

"Rae, I-" he choked. He blushed shyly and looked down, unable to keep eye contact. "I just wanted to say that…well, I…" He repeatedly tripped and stumbled over his words. He'd had the courage to take down a tripod and yet still was almost too scared to speak to one of his best friends. "You, I mean, I…"

"Yes?" she said teasingly.

"I, um…I've always…" he mumbled. Finally, he choked out, "I love you, Raven." His blush deepened when he finished saying the words he'd wanted to say for so long, yet never knew until recently.

He wasn't sure how she'd take it, whether she'd be happy, angry, or whatever. He glanced up nervously to see how she'd reacted. She was blushing as well and looking at him with shock. "Oh…" she gasped.

"I, I…" Beast Boy began, but couldn't finish and dropped his head again. He froze when he felt her cup his chin and raise his head so their eyes met again. She was still blushing, but to his surprise, a wide smile had spread across her face. Her expression made Beast Boy return the grin.

Raven pulled him into another tight hug. "I…I love you, too."

Beast Boy couldn't believe it. It was like a dream come true. He had to pinch himself just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He didn't have to ask her if she meant it, the look in her eyes told him everything. "Rae…" stammered, but she put a finger to his lips to stop him.

Raven almost couldn't believe herself. She would never have dreamt in a million years she'd say that to anyone, least of all the boy who was standing right in front of her. The same boy that had got on her nerves so often. The same boy whom she'd had the desire to strangle more than once. The irony was almost storybook, in a way. Yet, she wasn't afraid or nervous about it. It seemed right, like it was supposed to be this way.

She leaned in even closer, making Beast Boy even more nervous. Her lips were now almost brushing against his cheek. He had a suspicion she was now doing this to tease him. He lost almost all thought completely when Raven's lips finally connected with his. He instantly responded by pressing in closer and returning her kiss. It seemed to last forever, almost too good to be true. Neither one stopped until a nearby explosion startled Beast Boy out of it. He turned to see what it was, but Raven stopped him.

"Sorry. My fault," she said. They both laughed.

* * *

After a while, they finally decided they'd return to what little was left of the house they had been staying in. By this time, the sun had risen and daylight had finally come. It was still cloudy overhead, but not as overcast as it was the day before. 

They walked along, chatting as they went. Beast Boy felt like he was walking on air, he was so happy. "I have a question," he asked. "How is it you didn't make anything happen last night, like an explosion or something?"

"Beast Boy, I just made something explode just a few minutes ago by accident," she reminded.

"Yeah, I know. But I just was wondering why you didn't accidentally do something the other times. I mean, normally stuff kind of happens when you get worked up, no offense."

Raven shrugged. "Actually, I don't know. Strangely, I think ever since hitting my head I've had an easier time controlling my powers. Don't ask me why, though."

"Oh, okay. Just curious, that's all."

When they reached the house, they searched through it and gathered whatever supplies they could find – food, water, medical supplies, etc. Raven even took the opportunity to replace the bandages on her head. Luckily, the cut had finally stopped hurting, though it was still just a little sensitive. When all was done, they placed all their supplies in garbage and stepped outside. It was enough to last them a couple days, but not too much for them to carry. Unfortunately, the one thing they couldn't find was a map.

"So, where now?" Beast Boy asked while taking time to enjoy the morning air.

Raven pondered. "I don't know. There's no telling where the others are." She paused. "But something tells me," she pointed west down the road. "We should go that way."

Beast Boy shrugged. "Whatever you want. I'm just following you."

"How about this, we'll go down the road until we reach a town and find a map, then we'll decide what to do then. Okay?"

"Sounds like a plan to me!" he agreed. "Just as long as we don't run into any more Martians."

Raven grinned at him. "Well, we can't stay here. Let's move on, shall we?"

"Yeah. Let's go!"

"Alright then. How about if we fly instead? I'm kind of tired of walking."

"Sure," he replied.

"Great! Come on, I'll race you to those trees." Before Beast Boy could respond, she lifted off the ground, with Beast Boy chasing after her.

"Hey Raven, wait up! That's no fair, you got a head start! Rae!"

"Come on, slowpoke!" she called out to him while smiling teasingly.

Beast Boy smiled, both at Raven's attitude and at the challenge. "Watch out, I'm coming at ya!" he warned. He turned into a green pterodactyl, picked up his bags in his talons, and flew off after her.

* * *

Only a couple more chapters to go! I really hope the Beast Boy/Raven scene turned out fine, I didn't want it to sound forced. And I hope it was satisfying enough. Please let me know what you think. Opinions are always welcome. This chapter was actually very easy to write. The hardest part was actually coming up with the title! Still not sure if it fits...oh well. Again, please read and review. Thanks. 


	14. Chapter 14: Moonlight

At long last, the three other Titans return! So sorry if the BB/Rae moments were getting old, a lot of stuff was supposed to happen to them in this story. But as promised, this chapter finally has a much-needed Rob/Star moment! Ah, **fluff warning**, so be prepared.

Author's note: some chapters in this story have been re-written. Nothing big, mostly just small mistakes corrected here and there. As Iron Raven pointed out, some of the characters seemed a little off (especially Starfire and her use of contractions, where'd the heck that come from?), so I decided to fix that up a little. I was so bent on capturing the book that it actually intruded on the aspects of TT and the characters. Hopefully it's a lot better now.

* * *

**Chapter 14: Moonlight**

Robin groaned slightly and stretched as he got to his feet. He was trying to catch some sleep, but with everything going on in his mind he figured it would be useless to try. So after trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep for over an hour, he gave up and decided to do something else. Maybe talk to one of the other Titans, maybe take a walk, who knows. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Cyborg fiddling with his communicator.

They were in a cave, which they had guessed once belonged to a bear or something. It was abandoned now, and provided some much-needed shelter since there wasn't a house nearby. By sheer dumb luck earlier that day, the team had come across an overturned, abandoned supply truck. Among the items it contained were food and water, something the Titans had gone without for ages. It seemed they still had some luck in this, after all.

The boy wonder glanced around the cave. He noticed right away that Starfire wasn't there, and he decided to find out where she was. Slowly, he got to his feet.

Cyborg gave Robin an acknowledging glance at seeing him get up. As soon as he did, he got back to examining the communicator. "Can't sleep?" he finally asked.

"Yeah," the boy wonder replied. "Where's Star?" he asked. Upon noticing what Cyborg was doing, he blurted out another question. "What are you doing?"

Cyborg briefly looked up from what he was doing and held up the small device. "Trying to get our communicators working again. I figured at least if one of us gets separated again, we'll be able to keep in touch."

Robin nodded distantly. Half his mind was listening to Cyborg while the other half was focusing on other things. He heard his metallic friend give a moan.

"Man, and if these things hadn't gotten disabled by that EMP back in Jump City, we probably wouldn't be missing Beast Boy and Raven right now." Cyborg noticed Robin flinch uncomfortably at the mention of their names. Ever since they'd been forced to abandon their two teammates, brining them up had been a touchy subject.

"I know," was all Robin said in response. The cybernetic teen took a break from the communicator to examine his metallic arm quickly. Robin could hear him mumble something under his breath that sounded like a swear word.

"What's up?" Robin asked, curious as to what was bugging him.

Cyborg looked up at him. "The power cells on my sonic cannons are starting to run low. It's been a while since they've been recharged. I'm not sure how much more use I can get out of them, but I can tell you it won't be much unless we find a power source. Not to mention I'm on my last charged power cell. I've had to shut down every night just cause I can't charge anymore."

Peachy. Robin knew to well that they might run into another tripod at any time, and having one less weapon at their disposal meant one more advantage for the invaders. Even still, Robin could tell something else was bothering his metallic friend. Not having much else to do, he decided to find out what.

"Something else bothering you? Not to pry, but you look like something else is on you're mind."

Cyborg shrug and sighed. "I was just thinking about that ship we saw the other day. That flying machine."

"The one the Martians built, right?" As if that question even _needed_ to be asked.

Cyborg nodded. "Yup. Just the other day, we talked about how the Martians had these powerful tripods but no air force. It didn't seem very, well, logical. Then not two days later we see that thing flying overhead."

"It wasn't in the air for very long," Robin noted, remembering the experience that day. "Do you think they were just testing it?"

"Probably," Cyborg said, nodding. "But even still, it can't be good. It shows they're already starting a new phase. I mean, if they build an air force-"

"-Then the last advantage we have over them will be gone," a chilling voice finished for him. Both teens turned to see Slade standing in the cave's entrance. Without saying a word, the masked villain approached and leaned against the stony wall, his fighting staff still in hand.

"Um, yeah," Cyborg grunted. Needless to say, Slade's presence did nothing to brighten the mood. The only reason the Titans agreed to ally with him in the first place was pure desperation.

"Yes, I was just thinking about that too, as a matter of fact," the masked criminal said without a hint of emotion. "It seems they've always intended to use the tripods only up to a point, after all. I must say, it makes perfect sense. After all, if we know a tripod isn't the best way to move around, so should they."

"And?" Robin asked while glaring at him from beneath his own mask. "You say that as if we don't know that already."

"I'm sure you did," Slade continued as monotone as ever. "I just hope you realize that this has implications far beyond them simply being more mobile. If they do perfect a flying device, which I fully expect they shall, then their destructive capabilities will be multiplied much greater than they are now. They will be able to wage war on a much broader scale, and nothing, I tell you, will be able to stop them. There will be no hiding from them this time."

Robin almost told Slade to be quiet right then and there. Realizing how pointless it was and how childish it would be, he refrained. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Slade was speaking the truth. The cold, hard truth. He just couldn't believe Slade could talk about humanity's fate without even the faintest hint of emotion. Then again, Slade was not an ordinary person.

Robin paused for a minute, thinking of what to say. Finally, in a firm, resolute voice, he replied, "Then we'll find another way to fight them." Even Cyborg couldn't help but give a slight smirk. A fearless leader to the end.

It wasn't possible to tell Slade's reaction because of the mask he wore, but Robin suspected his expression hadn't changed the slightest. "By the way," the villain continued. "I'm sure you know this, but we'll be coming upon another populated area very soon if we continue the way we're going. And unless things have changed, we'll more likely than not be encountering more of them." By "more of them", he undoubtedly referred to the Martians.

"I did it!" Cyborg exclaimed out of the blue.

"What?" Robin asked curiously.

"I got my communicator to work," he replied. The cybernetic Titan held up the device to show Robin.

"Great job, Cy. We'll probably be needing them soon," Robin said as he leaned closer to get a look at the now-working communicator.

"Hey, why don't you give me yours, so I can try to fix it?" Cyborg suggested. "And see if Starfire'll give me hers."

Starfire. Robin paused when he mentioned her name. That had been the main reason Robin had gotten up in the first place. "Where is Starfire, anyway?" he asked as he handed Robin his communicator.

"Your friend is waiting outside near the ledge," Slade replied. "Just go out the cave's entrance and go off to the right. You'll find her soon. That is, if she hasn't moved."

Robin merely gave an almost undetectable nod in response. "Later Cy," he called as he left the cave. Finally he stepped out into the night air. It was pretty dark out, the sun having set hours ago. It was kind of warm, but a cool, refreshing breeze kept the heat away. Following Slade's advice, he turned right and headed in the direction. Surely enough, he soon saw Starfire's slender form standing next to the cliff's ledge, looking out into the night sky. Her back was turned to him, and she didn't see him coming.

Robin approached her cautiously. She hadn't hear him coming, or at least she didn't respond to his footsteps. He stopped when he was only a few feet behind her. Finally, after a moment of awkward silence, he spoke.

"Hey."

The alien princess turned around to face him. Her expression was a little shocked at seeing him suddenly appear without warning. Even in the dark, he could still see the brilliant green of her eyes.

"Friend Robin," she acknowledged shyly. "Hello. Is there something you wish to ask of me?"

Robin just shrugged and took another couple steps toward her. "Just wanted to see what you were up to. What are you doing?"

She briefly turned back toward the sky. "I have just been taking the moment to admire your planet's beauty. There has been little time to do so since they came."

Robin winced slightly at hearing the hurt in her voice. There was no denying that she was still very upset. "I know," he replied softly.

"There are no more stars, friend Robin," she whispered sadly. Robin looked up. In fact, there were no stars. A solid, purple layer of clouds blocked them all out. "I can no longer see the moon. It is so dark."

He could hear the fear in her voice as she spoke. Instinctively, Robin approached her so he was right at her side.

"Star," he said softly to get her attention. The Tameran turned so to face him so her eyes were looking directly into his. She looked at him with her usual timid stare he'd gotten used to and had grown to love.

To be honest, Robin wasn't sure what to say next. What could he possibly say at a time like this? He never really was that great with words. He finally decided to let his heart guide whatever he was going to say. "Star, is there something you want to talk about?" he asked.

The alien girl hesitated for a moment. "I have been thinking about where this all shall end up. I cannot help but think about what might happen to us." She looked down. "I have wondered many times about friends Raven and Beast Boy. Even with all that is happening, I cannot stop thinking of them."

"And you have every reason to," Robin answered. "They're your friends. They're _our_ friends."

"Yes. They are friends, as you and Cyborg are to me." She folded her hands nervously behind her back. "I do not wish to lose either of you, too. Yet, I cannot help but think I will." Small tears started glistening in her eyes.

"You're not going to lose me, Star," he whispered.

"Oh Robin, I do not wish for that to happen, but I do not believe you can promise me that! We have already lost two of our own. I do not think I will be able to move on if I lose _you_!" Without warning, Starfire hugged him tightly and wept in his shoulder. Robin was a little stunned by the sudden outburst of affection, but nevertheless returned her hug. "You are the one who is always there for me!" she sobbed. "You are the one who is always helping me whenever I am in need! You are truly my dearest friend. If you are gone, I do not think I shall have the strength to go on without you."

Robin found himself at a loss for words. "I…I don't want to lose you either," he choked. He found himself gradually transforming from the fearless leader into just…Robin. Truth be told, the thought of losing her scared him to death. Or Cyborg, for that matter. He was still a friend.

Raven and Beast Boy's disappearance had haunted him ever since it first happened. Despite Cyborg and Starfire's repeated insistence that it wasn't his fault, he still deep down blamed himself. If he faced the loss of another team member, he knew it would hurt him too much, both as a leader and a person. These past few days, he'd had _a lot_ to think about. He'd went over everything that had happened since day one – the invaders' arrival, being forced out of Jump City, Raven and Beast Boy's separation, and now allying with the likes of Slade… Everything led him to question himself. Was he making the right decisions? Was it his fault Raven and Beast Boy were gone? Was he still fit to be their leader?

"To be honest Star," he finally said, regaining his voice, "This whole thing's been ripping me apart, too. Not just Raven and Beast Boy, but where this whole thing is headed." He let out a deep sigh. "The more I think about it, Star, the more questions I have. But I've learned a couple things ever since this whole thing began."

"And what have you learned, friend Robin?"

Robin glanced first at the sky, then back at the alien princess. "We sometimes would like to think we're completely in control of everything around us. That we can always make the ultimate difference in the end. Being a superhero especially can get one like that." Starfire merely nodded shyly, taking in everything he said.

"But it's not like that," he continued. "Sometimes things happen that we just can't do much about. Sometimes, there are times that we can't stop something from happening. There are some things that are just beyond our control, and we have to accept that. I hate to think that there's nothing we can do to stop the inevitable. But as much as I hate it, I have to face it. Sometimes things will happen, and we'll wish those things have never happened to us. That we never had to face whatever we are faced with. But in the end, that's not up for us to decide. The only thing we can decide…is what to do with whatever time is given to us. And in times like these, the best thing one can hope for is to be with the ones we love." His words seemed to have some deep affect on her, for fresh tears started rolling down her cheeks. Robin smiled softly as he took both of Starfire's hands in his. At this she seemed to freeze and stared at him.

"We may not be able to do much about this whole thing in the end. But the thing that matters most is that we can do what we can, and that we know we don't have to go through this alone. As long as we have each other, then we can carry on. As long as we're together, there will always be hope." He paused to gather his thoughts again.

"Starfire," he said, looking straight in her eyes. "I can't promise you that we'll win this war. Or that we'll make it through _alive_. I wish I could, but I just can't." He took one of her hands and delicately kissed it. "I can only promise you one thing, Starfire: I'll always be your friend to the end. I promise you that I'll see this thing through to the finish, and I'll do it by your side."

Starfire's mouth opened as she tried to find her voice. "You…you promise, friend Robin?"

"I swear that as long as I'm breathing, I'll never leave you, Star. No matter what, I'll never abandon you as long as I live. And if by some chance we _are_ separated, I'd never give up until I was with you again. I swear, I'd fight through an entire army of tripods if it meant I'd see you again."

Starfire's warm tears still flowed, but she smiled gratefully. "You would do such things…for me?"

He nodded sincerely. "I would, and nothing less, Star. You mean too much to me."

She sniffled at his words, but her smile widened. "I had no idea you cared so much for me, dear Robin."

"Of course I do, Starfire," he said softly. "You're everything to me." He paused. "You're my star. Pun intended." To his relief, a small giggle escaped her.

"Friend Robin," she said sweetly while looking at him with glistening eyes. "I cannot express how much I am glad to have a friend like you. I do not believe even the Tamaren poem of gratitude can begin to describe it." Robin smirked. "And I must tell you, Robin, you mean very much to me, as well. I have never met anyone, on my planet and yours, quite like you. There is no one who makes me feel as you do. There is no one who could ever replace you, as a friend _and_ as a leader. Just like you could never leave me, I could never leave you, dear Robin. No matter what. As long as I live. Being with you for so long has made me see that. And I believe you with all my heart when you say you would never leave me."

"Or course I wouldn't, Star," he said just loud enough for her to hear. He paused briefly, wondering if he could actually say what he was about to say next. But after everything that had happened... _"Oh what the hell,"_ he thought, and completed his sentence.

"I love you too much."

He could hear the redheaded alien give a small gasp. At that moment, a break in the clouds came over and the moonlight poured out, and momentarily banished the blackness of the scene. It must have been full, because it was pretty bright. Robin could finally see her face clearly. Her tears had stopped, and she smiled as wide and sweetly as he had seen her in a while. The moonlight reflected magnificently off her large, beautiful green eyes. Robin stood there, captivated by her beauty, and was helpless to resist as their faces drew closer and closer together, until their lips finally met.

From the darkness behind them, a certain metallic teen watched in satisfaction at the scene. He had come out to see if things were okay, and had found them like this. He couldn't stop a grin from spreading across his face. The scene was unbelievably Kodak: the two of them kissing there at the ledge, both of them silhouetted against the brilliant moonlight. It was perfect. And needless to say, this was something Cyborg had waited to see since the two of them met. At last, not wanting to get caught and knowing it'd be best to give them privacy anyway, he swiftly ducked back inside the cave.

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Ta da! This chapter is shorter than the rest, I know. But I hope the Rob/Star scene was enough. And yes, I did steal a line off Gandalf from LoTR (one of the greatest movies ever) during that scene. Please review as always. More messages, happier author. There's not much left now, only a couple chapters. I definitely will be able to get this finished by the end of summer. Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing so far. 


	15. Chapter 15: When All Else Failed

One chapter left after this!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I would probably not be doing this if I did.

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**Chapter 15: When All Else Failed…**

The sun rose steadily once again, throwing its light upon the still landscape. The brightness illuminated the trees and cast long shadows throughout the forest. Underneath one of these trees, with her head against the trunk, lay a dark-cloaked mage. She was still; her only movement being the steady rise and fall of her chest as she slept. Her head rested on a small pillow while the rest of her was covered by a light blue sleeping bag. Only a few feet away was a dark green sleeping bag, only this one was empty. Only a minute later, a green hawk flew down and landed next to her. The green hawk quickly grew and mutated into a human Beast Boy.

He could see Raven underneath her sleeping bag, but couldn't tell whether she was asleep or not. The ground had been a little uncomfortable, but the two of them had decided sleeping in the forest was safer than sleeping in a house, especially after what happened to them last time. At least the aliens tended to stay close to populated areas, so there were less chances of them running into them in the woods.

The grass was rather cool and damp, as it usually was in the morning. He had gotten up and flew around briefly to make sure the coast was clear. While he was in the air he noticed dark clouds toward the east, as if it were about to rain. Thankfully, it was headed away from them. This was actually one of Beast Boy's favorite times of day; he was just too lazy to get up early enough to experience it most of the time. He grunted once he remembered they had more traveling ahead of them today. His mind briefly recalled what happened yesterday. After a rather _dramatic_ encounter with a tripod they had finally set out to find traces of people, and hopefully their friends.

No such luck. They had gone a long way before coming across another abandoned suburb. There they had luckily found a map and some other useful things, but the nearest city wasn't around for many miles and would take a while to reach, whether on foot or by air. They really were in the middle of nowhere and it would take a while to get to civilization. They had decided that traveling on foot was a little safer, since there was a less chance of them being spotted. Now no longer surrounded by tripods, Raven decided it was safe to expend some of her powers to heal the large gash on her head. And with that gone, that was one less thing to worry about.

Beast Boy stretched briefly and yawned. He turned to look at his companion and found that she was indeed still asleep. Briefly Beast Boy debated whether to get her up or not. She did say she wanted to get an early start, but at the same time she just looked so peaceful! He couldn't help but stare at her. She looked so content, yet so small and frail. One could easily mistake her for a normal teenage girl (aside from the violet hair) instead of the powerful mage she really was.

Beast Boy finally decided to just give her a few more minutes and take the opportunity to get some breakfast for them. The first thing that came to him was a nice tofu sandwich, but unfortunately, he didn't have any and he knew Raven wouldn't be very enthusiastic about it anyway. He scrounged around one of their packs, looking to see what they had. A slight groan escaped him when he remembered what they had gotten. Pretty much everything they had picked up was something that would stay fresh and didn't require any cooking, so everything in there was pretty much limited to fruit bars, energy bars, dried fruits, cereal (without milk of course), peanut butter, etc. His ears perked up when he heard a soft groan come from behind. He guessed it could only mean Raven was coming to.

Raven shifted around, now awake, but a crumpled-up wrapper hitting her square on the forehead was what made her open her eyes. Her eyelids snapped open, and she looked up to see a cheerful-looking Beast Boy sitting down a few feet away from her, munching on a fruit bar.

"Morning sleeping beauty!" he said with his usual wide grin, fang poking out. The wrapper he had thrown flew back in his face before he had a chance to dodge.

"Morning," Raven grunted lazily and turned over. As soon as she did Beast Boy leapt over so she was facing him again.

"May I get ze luvely lady zomething to eat?" he asked in his cheesy French accent.

"Ngh."

"I'll take that as a yes, then!" he bounded over to one of their packs. "Observe! We have tasty jarred and wrapped foods of all kinds, eagerly awaiting you! Perhaps a pop-tart would satisfy your cravings! Or maybe a mouth-watering power bar will suit your desire!"

Ignoring him for the moment, Raven sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Uh, about 8:35, at least according to this watch I picked up yesterday," he replied. His usual clock was as good as fried after being exposed to the EMP blast back in Jump City. "So, you want something to eat?" he asked again, this time in a more serious voice as he drank from a juice box.

"Sure, I guess," she replied. Raven shook the sleep out of her eyes and got to her feet. It was indeed still early; the sun was still low and the shadows long. Today they had a lot of traveling to do, though Raven couldn't say she looked forward to it. Pushing those thoughts out of her head momentarily, she knelt down next to Beast Boy and gratefully took an energy bar from him.

"Not much, I know. But I'm afraid there probably isn't a breakfast buffet around for miles, especially one that isn't torched," he told her with a very dry humor in his voice. A moment passed.

"So, where are we off to again, Raven?" Beast Boy asked her.

"Wherever we can get help or find people to help."

"What about the others?" he asked her. "Are we still looking for them?"

The empath sighed and paused. "As much as I don't want to admit it, maybe we should stop looking for them. Especially with our communicators gone, our chances of finding them are practically nothing."

Beast Boy lowered his gaze and let out a long sigh of his own. "I guess you're right." He missed his friends just as much as she did. It had only been a few days, but it felt like years since he'd seen them. Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire – he could only wonder what they were doing now. Even still though, he found out that he had really enjoyed Raven's company. Just spending time with her alone, _without_ her wanting to kill him, was special.

After eating and gathering everything up, the two of them set out. They decided to head north through the woods until they came to the highway, which they would follow to the nearest city. The two of them walked side-by-side for a while, not really saying anything. Only a few minutes into their journey, Raven stopped dead in her tracks.

"Raven, is something wrong?" he asked with concern. She merely stared straight ahead, looking as though she could hear something he couldn't.

"It's different," she replied softly.

The changeling looked perplexed. "Huh? Different? What's different?"

"Everything."

Question marks now appeared over Beast Boy's head. "Wait, what are you talking about? I don't understand!"

Raven now snapped out of her trance and turned to him. "It's really hard to describe, okay? I don't know how to say this." Beast Boy was no empath after all, so he figured it probably would be hard for her to describe it to him.

Raven tried, nevertheless, not wanting to keep him confused. "It's almost like…" she paused. "Someone's just pressed 'play' on the world. Like everything's just woken up from a deep sleep." Beast Boy still looked confused. "Look," she said rolling her eyes. "Just stop and look around, you'll see what I mean."

Beast Boy shrugged and did as he was told. Surely enough, things did feel sort of…_different_. He remembered a few days ago thinking how it felt as though someone had just pressed 'pause' on the world, now it felt like it was in motion again. It was the same feeling one got when a violent storm just passed. He looked around. Everything seemed brighter now, more colorful, more _lively_. There was no haze. Even the sun seemed to shine brighter. There were no clouds anymore, which he had noticed, but never took the time to think about until now. His ears perked up upon hearing a sound he hadn't heard in a while…

"Birds," he said softly. Raven nodded, understanding what he meant. The birds were chirping again.

"Yeah." Everything really did feel different.

"What do you think it means?" he asked her.

The mage shrugged. "I don't know." She looked around again to take in their surroundings. A warm feeling suddenly filled both of them, like the feeling one gets when one sees a sunrise after a long night, or when one steps in front of a warm fire after being out in the cold. The two of them merely stood there and stared at one another, a small smile slowly playing on both their faces.

"Let's keep going," Raven said after a minute.

Beast Boy nodded. "Yeah."

They walked on a while longer, both of thinking about what they had just felt. Raven walked just a little slower and fell behind a little. As usual, Beast Boy was the first to break the silence. With nothing else left to do, he went into one of his joke stories, trying to brighten the mood just a little more. As with most of his jokes, Raven was far from impressed, but smiled inwardly at his attempts. That was the thing about Beast Boy – he was funny when he wasn't trying to be.

The shape-shifter was unphased as he went on. He turned around so he was facing Raven and walking backwards.

"So then," he went on. "The preacher says to the rabbi, well I went to convert the bear in the woods, so I-AAUGH!" His sentence was cut off as he tripped over something and landed hard on his back.

"Beast Boy, are you…" Raven began, but paused when she saw what he tripped over.

Beast Boy grabbed his head and slowly got up. "Alright, who put what there for me to trip on-" he looked down to see what he had stumbled over and found himself looking at a long, metallic, cylindrical appendage.

The green teen's eyes widened, and he went into a panicked frenzy. "RAVEN! It's a trike – a trippy – a tripe – a TRIPOD!"

He leapt over to her side to as he braced for another fight, but it never came. He looked at it to get a better look at it. It was indeed a tripod's leg; only…it was lying across the ground.

"Huh?…" he began.

Raven's eyes scanned up the tripod's motionless leg until she saw its massive head a good distance away. She could hardly believe her eyes. It wasn't moving at all. It just lay there, sprawled across the ground, lifeless. Beast Boy left her side and ran up to the head, with Raven following close behind. At first they thought it might have been shot down, but its head showed no signs of damage at all. It was like it had just fallen over for no reason. Raven felt out with her powers and felt no live aura coming from inside. The pilots, for whatever reason, were all dead.

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Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Slade steadily traversed the empty highway east. Empty, that is, of cars. The four of them had stumbled upon yet another crowd of refugees all hoping to find safety. As they came to the top of a hill, the jutted buildings of a cityscape finally came into view.

"Alright guys," Robin addressed them. "We're going in. Everybody stay close and be careful."

"Listen," Slade spoke. Out in the distance, they could hear footsteps. Tripod footsteps.

"They're here," Cyborg added.

They continued on nevertheless, passing by a billboard filled with pictures of missing people, children, and pets. The four of them got closer and closer to the city, but still they couldn't see any signs of a tripod. To Robin's surprise, he spotted a military truck rolling by with soldiers on it. He at first thought they were going to fight the tripods, but he heard no signs of combat. The four of them decided to go and investigate.

They continued on, buildings slowly rising up around them as they got deeper and deeper, flanked on both sides by scared civilians. It was a sad sight, with broken windows everywhere, smashed walls, and newspaper pages rolled across the street as the wind blew them on. The group of heroes (and villain) came across a statue in the middle of an intersection.

It was obviously some kind of monument or tribute, but the entire thing was overgrown with the red weed. It was a soldier holding a rifle in one hand and a flag in the other. It reminded Robin of pictures of World War II soldiers he had seen in textbooks. The statue stood like an immobile guard, solemnly staring ahead as he stood watch. They passed by it with only a mere glance, but Starfire, who was hovering behind, noticed something peculiar. She flew closer to the statue to get a better look.

"Friends, come over and observe this," she called to them. The other three approached to see what the interruption was about. Starfire pointed at the statue's base, and the others saw what she had just noticed. The red weed had overgrown the entire thing, but near the base it was different. Instead of its normal blood red color, the weed near the bottom was now light gray, almost white. It appeared to have be shriveling up and withering away.

Starfire reached forward, took a piece of the gray vine in her hand, and snapped it off. It broke easily and was dry to the touch. She rubbed and felt it with her fingers, and the thing crumbled into dust almost instantly. "It is dying," she observed.

Cyborg gave a curious "Huh." Robin and Slade merely stared at the thing, puzzled. While she was still holding out her hand, Starfire felt a drop of water land on it. She looked up to see more droplets steadily falling from they sky. It had begun to rain.

"Let's keep going," Robin said after a moment, though still pondering what he had just seen. The rest followed his lead down the street. Up ahead, they noticed another truck surrounded by soldiers waving civilians through the area. The civilians were moving, but all of them were hesitating and kept looking off into the distance at something. From the looks on their faces, Robin figured it was something significant. He thought it might be a tripod, but there were no footsteps.

"Come on people, move along. Don't stop, keep going," one of the soldiers was shouting.

Robin and the others started to make way towards them to see what was going on, but all stopped when they beheld a sight that made them stare in awe.

They saw a tall red brick building, and leaning against it was a lifeless tripod. It wasn't moving at all, it merely laid against the partially smashed building. All their hearts leapt at the sight. They almost couldn't believe what they were seeing was real. The seemingly invincible war machine now lay there, dead.

"Is that…did they…how did…" Cyborg stuttered, too shocked and perplexed to find his words.

"Quick, let's ask what happened," Robin commanded. He dashed off to the group of soldiers, who were still waving the civilians along.

"Hey, excuse me,-" Robin called, trying to get their attention. The shouting soldier momentarily paused to see what he wanted. "Did you guys take that thing out?" he asked eagerly.

The soldier shook his head. "No sir. The thing was walking around in circles, behaving erratically. Then it just fell over by itself about an hour ago." He shifted his attention back to the moving crowd. "Alright everyone, keep going. Move along!"

Robin looked around, bewildered. The other three heard what had happened and looked perplexed as well. First the red weed was dying then a tripod just fell over for no reason. What was going on?

The four of them decided to move on, seeing if they could find where the footsteps had been coming from. They didn't have to look long, though. The footsteps now grew loud, and soon a gigantic Martian war machine emerged from behind a line of buildings.

"There!" Robin pointed. At seeing the colossal machine the crowd of civilians panicked and ran desperately away in different directions, all trying to get away. Amid the confusion, the soldiers regrouped and took cover behind a crumbling wall. One of them pulled out a radio to call for backup. The Titans and Slade followed their example and ducked behind a building to take cover. Robin, however, noticed something peculiar and dashed out into the open and quickly ducked behind a lifeless car to get a better look at the tripod.

"Robin! Please, come back!" Starfire called. She made to go after him, but Robin raised a hand to stop her.

"Stay there!" he shouted. Starfire still made an effort to get to him, but Cyborg held her back. Slade didn't seem to care one way or the other.

Robin turned his attention back to the lumbering machine. His first suspicions were confirmed. It was moving, but not the way it usually did. The machine stumbled forward clumsily. It walked very awkwardly, almost erratically, as if the pilots were having problems controlling it. It didn't even seem to notice the scared, fleeing mass of people beneath it.

Robin's eyes narrowed as he tried to make sense of what was happening. The falling water had picked up, and it was now raining steadily. From where he was, Robin could make out the rain hitting and splattering against the tripod's metallic surface.

Wait a minute…

The rain was falling on the tripod. _The rain was hitting the tripod. _

Robin's eyes widened in a combination of shock, disbelief, and excitement. "GUYS!" he stood up and called out. The other three turned to hear what he was saying. "There's no shield! No shield!"

VRRRUUUUUUUMMM! The tripod's loud foghorn blast drowned out Robin's speech. The boy wonder still stood there, frantically waving his arms and pointing at the tripod.

"What is he saying?" Starfire asked worriedly.

"I dunno. Has he snapped or something?" Cyborg asked in confusion. Robin was still shouting madly.

"WHAT?" Cyborg shouted back.

VRUUUUUUMMM! Another deafening blast sounded, and Cyborg put his hand to his ear to try to make out what Robin was saying. Amidst his yelling, Cyborg discerned two words:

"_NO SHIELD!"_

Cyborg peered around the building to see for himself. Surely enough, he could see the rain pounding against the tripod, completely undeterred. The metallic teen turned to the others and motioned with his hand.

"Now's our chance! Let's get it!" he called. He ran out from behind the wall, with Starfire and Slade close behind, to join their leader.

"Wait, first I'm gonna make sure," Cyborg said in a resolute voice. _"Alright, let's see if it works this time,"_ he thought to himself.

The bionic teen readied his sonic cannon and aimed it straight at the tripod's head. "Alright guys, say hello to my little friend!" he shouted and let loose a blast from his arm. The beam of energy shot towards the machine and detonated against the head. Shards of metal and glass flew up in the air as a black hole was blown into its side. The tripod reeled from the impact and stumbled, but still didn't fall down.

"It's vulnerable!" Robin shouted. "Titans, GO!"

Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire charged the staggering machine. Slade followed close behind, formulating his own plans.

Starfire flew up to get closer to the head, though she still kept enough distance so the tentacles couldn't reach her. "This is for friends Raven and Beast Boy!" she yelled furiously. Her eyes and hands glowed green, and she let lose a furious barrage of bolts at it. Bolt after bolt struck the head, causing the machine to stumble more and more.

Robin readied his grappling hook and fired it at the tripod. The hook spun around and hooked onto its tail laser. Robin shot upward as the hook retracted, and he landed right on top of it, straddling it like a horse. "This is for Jump City," he growled. He took out his fighting staff and swung hard. The laser's head smashed and splintered into hundreds of pieces of metal and glass. The boy wonder struck again just to make sure it was disabled for good. Taking his grappling hook again, he latched it onto a nearby building and leapt away to safety.

Cyborg raised his arm again. "This is for Earth!" he shouted. He took aim and fired another round at the head, though also keeping track to make sure he didn't deplete his sonic cannons completely. Another explosion ripped into it. The machine now started to lean forward. It was now very close…

Slade ran forward and underneath the tripod so he was just next to one of its legs. Once there, the masked villain pulled out a device from his belt and planted it on the leg. The device latched on and let out a beeping noise, and Slade ran off. Seconds after he did so, the device exploded, severing the foot of the tripod from the rest of its leg.

That did it, and the machine tipped forward and slowly started falling over. The Titans decided that was enough and vacated the scene to avoid being crushed as it fell over.

"TIMBER!" Cyborg shouted as he retreated. It fell down, scraping and smashing a building along the way, and finally the machine collided with the ground in a thunderous crash. The Titans ducked behind a wall to avoid the dust and debris being kicked up by the machine. Flames erupted from the head in a dazzling display as it grinded along the ground, overturning cars and knocking down poles in the street until it came to a screeching halt.

And then, silence.

Slowly, cautiously, the three young superheroes emerged from behind. Around them, shocked soldiers and civilians alike emerged from hiding to see what had just happened. Everyone gaped in amazement at the downed tripod. The lifeless, metallic monster lay dead and motionless. Everyone stopped, unsure of what to do at first. A brief pause passed through the entire scene. Even the rain stopped.

Their curiosity took hold of them and they neared the head to get a closer look at it. Its windows were all cracked and dark, but they still couldn't see behind them. Robin stepped forward ahead of everyone else. He slowly approached it until he was within mere feet of it.

Without warning, a port at the side of the head popped open and a yellowish-orange liquid poured out, prompting several yelps and gasps from the crowd. Robin stepped back and paused momentarily until the liquid stopped flowing. But that wasn't it. The sound of something moving could be heard inside. A moment passed, and a large four-fingered claw emerged from the opening, followed by the grotesque head of a Martian. Several people cried out once more in surprise. Robin however, didn't back away. Cyborg and Starfire followed close behind.

The alien really did look as if it were about to die. Its exoskeleton was a much lighter shade of gray than he remembered, and its eyes seemed glazed over. It seemed to be struggling just to move. A dark liquid was leaking out of its mouth and some cracks in its exoskeleton, which Robin took as blood. He approached the struggling alien until he was standing right in front of it, only two feet away. The alien looked up at him with its huge black eyes. Even with its inhuman face, Robin could see the hatred in its eyes as it looked at him, then at the rest of the crowd. Robin merely stared back, triumphant and unafraid. For a moment, it almost seemed as if the will between races was being fought out in those two individuals. The Martian let out a final, drawn-out hiss, and with that its entire body collapsed and went limp.

Another gasp went through the crowd. Starfire put her hands over her mouth in shock, while Cyborg leaned in to get a closer look. Robin reached out and took the Martian's limp hand in his. He leaned closer and examined the eyes, which had already gone gray and stared blankly ahead. It didn't move an inch. Slowly, Robin put the hand back down and backed away, still staring at its lifeless form.

"It's dead," he muttered silently. He turned around to face his friends and the rest of the crowd. A wide grin spread across his face. "It's dead!" he shouted.

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd. Several cries of joy and happy sobs could be heard from the jovial mass. Tears of happiness were now streaming from Starfire's face. Cyborg collapsed on his knees fists clenched, and kept chanting "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Robin merely stood there, looking at the smoldering wreckage with a satisfied smile.

The Titans didn't even see the crowd rushing toward them and were almost ran over, as happy and thankful soldiers and civilians scrambled to thank them. They all had to back away to avoid being overwhelmed. Amidst this, Robin remembered something. He looked around, and let out a sigh. Slade was gone. He couldn't see him anywhere.

"Slade's gone, guys," Robin muttered in between the many 'thank you's they were being pelted with. Cyborg and Starfire nodded, though it really didn't matter much now. He wasn't going to be any sort of threat for a long time. Nevertheless, Starfire felt she should briefly look around just to see if she could find him. She hovered up and flew away from the crowd.

"Where're you going, Star?" Robin called after her. The alien flew up an inclined street until she was at the top of a rather large hill. Once there, she gasped in amazement.

"Friends! Come here! You must see this amazing sight!" Her voice sounded joyful and excited.

Eager to see what it was, Robin and Cyborg broke through the crowd and headed for their companion. They ran up the steep street until they reached the top. Once there, they too stared in amazement.

A magnificent view lay before them. They could see almost the entire landscape before them. The clouds were finally dissipating and streaks of sunlight were shining through. But that wasn't what caught their attention. Amidst the buildings, scattered here and there, were several tripods, all of them downed and lifeless. Some were smashed against buildings, others lay in the streets.

None of them could believe it. It was as some divine will just struck them all dead at once. All three of them stood there, taking in the sight. Starfire without warning pulled Robin into a tight hug. Cyborg rolled his eyes.

"Why does that never happen to me?" he grumbled. A second later he felt Starfire pull him into a suffocating embrace as well. Right after that, she went back to hugging Robin.

After a few moments of just standing there, taking in the view, they finally decided to head back down.

"You guys need any help?" Robin asked the soldiers.

"Nah, I think we got it covered," one of them said as he tried to get the crowd of citizens to move on.

"Hey guys, you gotta here this," one of the soldiers said as he listened through his radio.

"What?"

"Something crazy's going on. The enemy advances are stopping everywhere. We're getting reports from all over of scorpions just falling over for no reason at all. It's happening everywhere!"

"That's weird," another soldier remarked.

Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire looked at each other, still unsure of what was going on. They all pondered this situation, unsure of what to do. Finally, Robin looked up at his companions with a triumphant grin plastered across his face.

"Let's go home, guys."

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No, it's not over yet. Just one chapter left to go! I enjoyed writing this chapter. I didn't want to make the scene too much like the one in the movie (hence the reason there were no birds involved), and I think it ended up better for it. (hope you also enjoyed the little Scarface quote, another great movie) As always, please review. I must say I've enjoyed writing this fic, though I'll be glad to get it done. Once I'm done with this I'll finally be able to finish my other fic as well, which has been becoming quite a burden to finish. Mostly just because it's gotten so. dang. long.


	16. Chapter 16: Home

And finally, the last chapter has finally arrived. While it's been fun writing this fic, I'm glad to finally get this done. As I've said, I would have finished a long time ago if I could do it over again. Anyway, enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for an author's note at the end.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

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**Chapter 16: Home**

The journey home took a little longer than expected. Once they finally found a map, they discovered they were far northeast of Jump City. Even by car it would take a couple days to reach. Before setting out, Cyborg decided to take the opportunity to recharge his batteries. With a little help from an abandoned vehicle and Cyborg's repair skills, the three remaining Titans soon found themselves on the road home.

The first day on the way back, Robin had recalled that they had heard no word from Titans East since the day of the invaders' arrival. Deciding now was as a good a time as any, he decided to try to contact them on his communicator while they were driving. He was sitting next to Cyborg, who was driving, and Starfire sat in the back seat.

The first couple times were unsuccessful, but finally on the third attempt the signal got through, and a feminine voice answered on the other side.

"Robin, is that you?" she asked in a voice that contained shock, excitement, and frustration at the same time.

"Jinx! You're alive!" Robin almost shouted into his communicator.

"Yes I'm alive, you moron! I'm speaking to you, aren't I?" At least her sarcasm was still intact.

"Where are the others? Are they with you?" he asked, now more collected. On the other line, Robin could here excited commotion as Jinx informed the others he was calling. After a moment, she came back on the line.

"Yeah, we're all here."

"Are you all okay?"

"We're okay. A little tired and shaken up, but we'll live. Poor Aqualad's got a broken arm, though. Broke it in a fight with a tripod. Other than that, we're fine."

"They're okay, guys!" Robin said to the others.

"Alright!"

"That is most joyous!"

"Jinx, I need to ask you, just what's going on over there?" Robin asked, this time more collected.

"A whole bunch of things. We were hiding out in this town when we heard more invaders were headed for us. Next thing we know, they never came. We went out and found most of them all dead for no reason. Only a couple of them were left, and we took them out pretty easily."

"It's happening around them, too, guys," Robin told the others.

"Glorious!" Starfire said joyfully.

"Hola, Robin!" a new voice came in over the communicator. Actually, it wasn't one voice, but two.

"Is that Mas y Menos?" Cyborg asked from the driver's seat. Before Robin could answer, another voice came on.

"Hey, Robin!"

"Hello, Robin."

"Sup, Robin?"

"Speedy? Aqualad? Kid Flash?" Robin spoke into the device. Another feminine voice answered at last.

"Hey, Robin," said the voice, unmistakably Bumblebee.

"Hey, Bee!" Cyborg shouted.

"Hey, Cy!"

The sound of struggling interrupted them through the communicator, and Jinx's voice soon came back on.

"It's my communicator! Give it back! Hey, Robin. How are things going over there?"

"Fine now. We're heading back to Jump City."

"Hey, I heard you, Cy, and Star. Where's BB and Raven? Let me talk to them!"

Silence.

"Uh, Robin?"

After allowing the sinking feeling to settle in, Robin answered her. "They're not here."

"What? What happened?" Jinx asked, now sounding worried.

"We…we lost them."

"Are they-?"

"No, they're not dead. At least we hope they're not dead. We lost each other one night during a fight. We're still looking for them."

"Oh, Robin, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I hope you find them."

"We hope so, too, Jinx."

"Good luck, guys. Take care. We'd all like to chat longer, but we're kind of busy right now. Can we talk later?"

"Sure, Jinx."

"By, guys," Cyborg called from his seat.

"Goodbye, friends!" Starfire added. After that, silence returned.

The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful, but not without some interesting sights along the way. As they drove, they passed large patches of red weed. Only this time, much of it had started to die and had turned gray already.

Later on in the first day of driving, one of the radio stations finally started working again, and the Titans were listening eagerly for news from the outside world. As it turned out, the invaders were all now dying by the numbers. As they listened, they heard an interview with a scientist being played. What they learned all surprised them. When all their weapons had failed, when it seemed nothing could defeat them, one thing stopped them.

"Germs," the scientist said over the radio.

"What do you mean?" the host asked him.

The scientist went on explaining, "Bacteria have lived on earth ever since the beginning. When other species of animal started appearing, they had to develop immunities to all the diseases caused by them. Mars however, doesn't have bacteria. We already know bacteria don't exist from the samples we've collected from their surface. The Martians never developed any immunities to any diseases. So when they finally came, they were already as good as dead. A germ which might be harmless to you and I would be fatal to them."

"Wow," Cyborg muttered as he drove. "Never would have thought."

"Same here," Robin said distantly as he listened. Starfire had come from a world very much like Earth, so she had no problem living on their planet. Mars apparently was so different that the invaders had no way of stopping their doom.

"So," Cyborg finally asked after some time. "Is it over?"

A brief moment of silence passed between them. Finally, Robin spoke.

"Yeah," he whispered. "It's over."

It was over. The invasion had failed, in the end, because the invaders had overlooked one detail in their seemingly flawless plans. When every weapon and device had failed, they were undone by the smallest creatures which God put on the earth in the beginning. The entire way back, they didn't come across a single tripod. What tripods were still around weren't much threat, and either they were taken out or died by themselves.

The second day, the three of them had to take a stop by the side or the road. When they all got out of the vehicle, they saw a sight that made them all gasp.

In the large valley off the side of the road was a large, flat, gray expanse. It lay lifeless and unmoving. It, surely enough, was the same flying machine they had seen the invaders test-flying only a few days ago.

* * *

Finally, late afternoon, a very welcome sight finally greeted the three Titans. As they drove over a hill, the towering spires of Jump City finally came into view. 

Home.

A wave of joy and contentment filled the three at the sight. Never before had they been so grateful at seeing the familiar place, not even after defeating the Brotherhood of Evil, and that had taken much longer.

As they finally entered the city's criss-crossing streets, none of them could help the wave of sadness that also befell them.

The damage was worse than when they had returned after fighting the Brotherhood. Some buildings were partially damaged, while others were completely demolished, leaving only a pile of rubble in place. It was now a virtual ghost town. By the looks of it, they were the first ones to have come back since the invaders arrived. Everything was still and lifeless.

And yet, it was also strangely comforting too. Just like the feeling one gets after a violent storm has passed. It was bad now, but the Titans all knew it could be rebuilt. They had all come to grips with the fact that they would always face battles in their lives, even if they weren't against villains.

The car they were driving finally came to a stop at the row of buildings overlooking the coast. The three of them piled out and surveyed the scene.

It was very quiet. The only sound came from the birds chirping and the sound of waves crashing against the shore. All of them surveyed in silence the remains of their once-proud city.

"It is good to be home," Starfire finally said after some time.

Cyborg and Robin nodded.

"It's not…what it used to be," Cyborg added with a hint of sadness.

"Things change," Robin said. "But it doesn't matter in the end, as long as we remain friends. As long we have each other."

Starfire and Cyborg both nodded in agreement, a new wave of hope filling them.

The three walked down the street, surveying the scene. Finally, it was Starfire who broke the silence with an excited shout.

"Friends, look!" she said joyfully. She pointed out towards the ocean. Robin and Cyborg both squinted and saw what had caused her excitement.

The entire city may have been attacked, but one thing remained out of it all. It stood like a proud beacon of strength arising out of the ashes.

Titan's Tower.

It was still standing, and from the looks of things, it was still intact. The three of them ran down to the beach and toward the shore, trying to get a closer look to make sure it was for real. When they at last stood at the shoreline, their hearts all leapt with joy. It hadn't been destroyed, after all.

The familiar T-shaped tower stood proudly over the ocean overlooking the coast, hardly any signs of damage at all. Maybe the Martians had looked over it or decided to ignore it, but it was still there. It was almost too good to be true.

Starfire had clasped her hands together in joy and was laughing joyfully at the sight of her home. Robin wore a proud smile of content on his face. And Cyborg…

"Friend Cyborg, are you crying?" Starfire asked him with concern.

The large teen quickly wiped away his tear so she wouldn't notice. "I uh, just had something in my eye."

Starfire merely beamed at him in response.

"Wow, I don't believe it," Robin said in awe. He could barely bring himself to believe that their home still stood after all this. While they were all standing their, admiring the sight, their high spirits quickly sunk as a new realization hit them. Starfire was the one to speak what was on all their minds.

"If only friends Raven and Beast Boy were here to see this," she said sadly. Their gazes shifted downward. Once again, the only sound to be heard was the waves licking at the beach's edge.

They stood there in silence for their teammates. Out of the silence, Starfire thought she heard something that made her ears perk. The others probably heard it too, because their heads had lifted as well.

"Was that…?" Robin began, but his words got lost.

"Maybe it was just our imagination?" Cyborg suggested. For a moment they heard nothing, but then it came again, this time a little louder. All three of them looked around.

"I definitely heard something," Robin said as his eyes searched.

Starfire's eyes widened. "Was it-?"

"No way. It couldn't be," Cyborg said shaking his head. Nevertheless, they moved in the direction of the sound. It sounded like a voice. The third time they heard it, it was clearer and louder. This time they made out words.

"_Hey, guys!" _came a voice from the distance.

"No way!" Robin shouted and he dashed off in the direction he heard it.

"It can't be!" Cyborg said again, only this time his voice sounded excited and eager.

"_Guys!" _

All of them had broken into a sprint. Starfire was the first one to see it and she lifted her hand to point.

"Look!" she shouted. "Over there!"

They all looked, and in the distance near the line of buildings they saw two figures. One was darkly-clad and the other was green. Both were waving at them excitedly.

"I don't believe it! It's Raven and Beast Boy!" Robin shouted. His voice had sounded nearly hysterical with excitement, his usual dignified-leader tone now gone.

"NO WAY! Where are they? I'm gonna kill 'em!" Cyborg shouted.

At last, the two figures came into clear view. Surely enough, there stood Raven and Beast Boy, both of them looking dirty and beat-up but wearing huge grins on both their faces.

The two of them now started rushing toward them as well, now closing the seemingly endless gap even faster. Beast Boy had now broken down into a fit of joyful laughter.

"Ha ha! Hey!" he waved.

At last, the group of teens collided in an explosion of hugs and greetings. An endless stream of words was released between the two groups of reunited heroes.

"Oh man! I can't believe you guys are real!" Cyborg said joyfully. Without warning he scooped the two in his huge arms and into a nearly-suffocating hug. "I love you guys!" he cried, a fresh tear rolling down his eye.

Neither Raven nor Beast Boy could respond, as they both were being hugged so tightly they thought their ribs would crack.

"Uh, Cy," Raven choked.

"Woah, Cy! Go easy on them," Robin cautioned when he saw their faces turn blue. Cyborg apologized and let them down.

"Sorry. It's just good to see you guys."

"Yes, it is most wonderful too see you two again! I am so overjoyed that you both are alive and unharmed!"

"Thanks, Star. Great to see you, too," Beast Boy said happily.

"Great to see all of you," Raven added silently, though tenderly.

Robin folded his arms and arched an eyebrow, grinning. "Now where on earth have you two been? We've been looking all over for you!" His tone was light. He was still amazed that they were now standing right in front of them.

Beast Boy chuckled and Raven smiled.

"We, uh, got a little tied up," the changeling said with a grin on his face.

"Oh really?" Cyborg asked with a laugh.

"You don't know the half of it," Raven replied with a slight smirk on her face.

"I don't believe it! This is great! You were both away by yourselves, together, and she didn't kill you!" Cyborg said while pointing at the changeling. Robin and Starfire both chuckled. "This has gotta be a first!"

"Well, uh, she didn't _kill_ me," Beast Boy replied, with a sly wink at the mage standing next to him, who was looking at the ground to hide her blush. Cyborg looked confused.

"But I don't understand. What made you decide to come home?" Starfire asked them.

"Rae suggested it," Beast Boy explained. "After we encountered a dead one in the woods and got word of the invaders losing, we decided to head back. We thought that maybe you'd decide to return home, too."

"Yeah. And it turns out we were right," Raven completed.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. We're home again," Robin told them.

"And we are together," Starfire added. All of them nodded in silent agreement. Despite everything, that was what mattered most. They were home at last, and they were together.

"So what did you guys do while we were gone?" Robin asked the empath and the changeling.

Raven folded her arms. "It's a long story. I can tell you right now we weren't taking nature hikes the entire time."

"What did you guys do?" Beast Boy asked in return.

"It's a long story," Robin replied, quoting Raven. "Tell you what, we can talk later. Let's get home first."

No one protested. The five of them made their way toward Titans' Tower together.

Home at last.

* * *

_16 months later…_

Not long after the Titan's arrived back in Jump City, the government officially pronounced the threat over and things were finally allowed to start turning back to normal.

As it turned out, most of the central United States had been spared from the invaders' onslaught. The coastal areas and borders were the areas hardest-hit. The Martians in fact had decided to obliterate the edges of the country first and work their way inward. The same thing applied to the other continents on the globe. The hardest-hit areas were Europe , East Asia, and North America, though no country got off lightly from the invasion.

After peace had finally settled, cities around the world started rebuilding. The battle was far from over, especially for the Titans. They helped in the rebuilding of Jump City, and the chaos created by a sudden lack of law made it necessary for them to help in restoring order. Nevertheless, people started returning to their homes and rebuilding their once-proud city.

After finally assessing the damage, the Titans were a little relieved. It was still much worse than the destruction it had suffered before, but it wasn't as bad as the Titans had thought. Many buildings and homes had actually been spared from the onslaught. The Invaders must have figured that once all the people were gone, there really wasn't much need to demolish the buildings. Especially given that their main goal was to _kill the people themselves_. Nevertheless, it was staggering the amount of damage they had been able to cause in the short amount of time they had been alive. Even still, after the last Martians had been wiped out on earth, they had neither seen nor heard any sign of them since. No activity was even seen on Mars' surface. The Titans all held a cautious belief that that was the last they'd see of the invaders. The invasion had been nothing short of a cataclysmic disaster for the Martians.

When Beast Boy and Raven had learned the reason behind the Martians' sudden defeat, both were shocked, especially Beast Boy.

"_It was germs that killed 'em?"_ he had asked in bewilderment. _"Man! I'm never gonna wash myself again!"_ He had thankfully been kidding.

Now, almost a year and a half later, the city was still rebuilding, though things were well on their way to turning back to normal.

It was Christmas now, and the city wore a fresh blanket of fallen snow, something that didn't happen often in Jump City. It was the second Christmas since the invasion, though it was the first they had actually really celebrated since then. The first Christmas, things were still very busy with the rebuilding, and most stores had yet to be rebuilt anyway.

Now, however, things had gotten back to normal just enough for them to have a real celebration. All were gathered in the common room around a brightly lit tree, laughing and talking as they all exchanged gifts.

"Hey, that one's mine!" Beast Boy shouted excitedly.

"Hey man, back off!" Cyborg warned. The changeling stuck his tongue out at him again. The cybernetic teen had now momentarily taken the roll of Santa Claus and was distributing the presents. Starfire and Robin were sitting next to each other on the loveseat, while Raven and Beast Boy were sitting together on the couch on the other side.

The metal man held up a small orange package, shook it a little, and looked at the tag. "This one's for Starfire!" he beamed.

Starfire took the package eagerly with the anticipation and excitement of a child. "Oh, glorious! I am most excited to see what Santa Claus has brought me!" She looked at the tag. "Oh, it is from Robin!" She turned and grinned widely at him, who was blushing slightly. "Thank you very much, boyfriend Robin!"

The boy wonder still couldn't help turning red every time she used that phrase.

"Here's one for Raven!" Cyborg said in his St. Nicholas voice. He held up a blue package and handed it to the mage.

She took it and took the time to read the tag. "From Beast Boy," she remarked. She glanced over at the blushing changeling. "Thanks."

"Err, no problem. I hope you like it?"

"Oh Robin! I love it! Thank you so much!" they heard Starfire shout. They looked up in time to see the alien pull Robin into a tight hug and plant a kiss on his cheek.

"What'd he get her?" BB asked. They looked over to see Starfire holding a large jar of her favorite brand of mustard, which she had not had for over a year. Meanwhile, Robin had just opened a rather fluffy red and green striped sweater from Starfire.

"Thanks, Star," Robin said while grinning back at her and trying to sound sincere.

"You are most welcome, Robin."

Raven noticed Beast Boy's eyes widen and his face contort as he struggled desperately to contain his laughter. Raven shot him a warning glance.

"No comments, Beast Boy," she warned silently.

"Aw, Raaaven," he whined.

She ignored him and decided to open her gift. Meanwhile Cyborg had handed a green package to Beast Boy.

Raven tore apart the wrapping and tossed it aside to reveal a thick hard-back novel entitled _"From Burns to Poe: An Essential Collection of Romantic-Era Poetry."_

She stared at the gift she held in her hands. Faint traces of pink appeared on her cheeks. "Beast Boy, this is um, wow. Thanks."

He didn't look encouraged. "Uh, sorry if you don't like it."

Raven glanced over at him. "Are you kidding? I love it." The changeling beamed at the compliment.

"Thanks. I mean, you're welcome."

"Now open yours."

"Hey it's from you. Thanks, Rae!" he said excitedly as he tore it open. Meanwhile, Cyborg had taken a break from distributing to unwrap one of his presents. He was now admiring a container of engine oil for his T-Car.

"Wow! This is the best kind! Thanks, guys!"

Beast Boy finally unwrapped his gift and let out a slight gasp at seeing what it was. Everyone looked over to see what it was.

In his hands Beast Boy held a videogame entitle _"Battle for Earth 3: Red Fury."_ Below it, the sub-caption read: _"You are Earth's only hope. Wield dozens of high-tech weapons, gadgets, and vehicles as you stand against the invaders."_

Beast Boy stared at the game silently as if in awe. For a moment Raven actually looked worried. Finally the shape-shifter broke the silence with a loud shout.

"ALRIGHT! THIS IS AWESOME!" he yelled as he jumped up in excitement, while at the same time causing Raven to jump in surprise. "Oh my god! I love it I love it I love it! This is like, the best game, I heard! This is so cool! I've heard the multiplayer on here's the best! This is so awesome!" He finally settled down again and sat next to the empath.

"Thanks, Raven," he said sweetly while giving her a puppy-dog look. She surprised him by placing a quick kiss on his cheek.

"I knew you'd like it."

Beast Boy's cheeks turned rosy again.

"Sweet, BB. You and I gotta play it," Cyborg said from across the room.

"Hey Rae, you should play it with us," Beast Boy suggested. "What do you think?"

She merely shrugged at him and actually seemed to be considering it. "Maybe. But I don't need to play it, Beast Boy. I've _lived_ it."

The room erupted in laughter.

* * *

At last, it's finally finished! While this was fun to write, I must say it's a relief to get this finished, especially considering this should have been done months ago. At first, I was planning on ending the story right after the beach scene where they finally reunite. Instead, I decided to just add an extra scene for a little more closure, and I think it ended up better for it. Yeah, I'm aware Robin getting Starfire mustard was probably a tad weak, but oh well. (and it's meant to be funny anyway) Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to review, especially Invader Johnny, Windy Days, and Hhgbh. 

**Author's Note:** A few chapters back, I said I was toying with a new TT fic but was unsure whether or not I was going to post it. After thinking about it, I've decided that I will post it, and I'm actually excited about writing this one. It's going to be completely original, not a crossover, will most likely be a fantasy, and it will contain a few of my own characters! And yes, as of right now there will be romance, mostly BB/Rae. (it's not my fault, I'm fond of the pairing) However it won't be posted for probably a few months, as I still need to finish my KOTOR fic, and after that I'm going to take a break from writing. In the meantime I'll just keep reading and reviewing other fics. Once again, thanks to all who have read and reviewed this story. Until then, keep writing! So long!


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